Percy Jackson and The Hogwarts Chronicles
by Anaklusmos14
Summary: Percy Jackson saved the world. But the price was much steeper than he was willing to pay. To separate his life from the bitter memories of his past, Percy is sent to London to live with a distant cousin in hopes of a nice easy mortal life. He should have known the Fates weren't done with him yet. Rated M for a reason. Possible mature content... TBD
1. Chapter 1

**Ch. 1**

Percy Jackson trudged down the jetway from his plane and into London International Airport.

He probably should have been nervous, especially considering he'd just flown across the Atlantic Ocean after he'd been explicitly warned years earlier that if he ever got into another plane, he'd never survive to see solid ground again. Apparently though, it seemed Zeus had decided he'd earned a free pass.

 _Because that was totally an equal gift to the one he'd given Zeus and the others gods..._

If he could go back, he wouldn't have done any of it.

He wouldn't have gone to Camp Half Blood.

He wouldn't have undertaken all those deadly quests over the past four years.

He wouldn't have led an army of less than one hundred demigods against a monster army thousands strong.

And he definitely wouldn't have battled the Titan Lord Kronos, inhabiting the body of a demigod who been his friend briefly, and saved Olympus and in turn, all of western civilization.

Nope; the moment he saw Grover's furry legs, he would have dropped stopped in his tracks, thrown Grover out of the car, and made his mom turn them around and go back to New York.

None of that was worth the price he paid in the end.

Sure they'd won the war and saved the world and yada yada yada... But watching his best friend, the girl he never even got a chance to tell how he really felt, die before his very eyes was not something he was willing to give. He'd given the gods everything and in turn they took the only thing that truly mattered to him.

And after all of that, they'd tried to make him a god.

 _Pfft... Spending any time, let alone eternity, with the gods of Olympus was literally the last thing he wanted._

Yup, he turned down immortality. Just about any rational person would think he was an idiot. But they obviously didn't know the gods. They didn't know those ungrateful, manipulative worms for what they really were. If they did, they would turn and try to get as far away from Olympus and those gods as they could.

And that, as his mother explained to him, is why he found himself standing alone in London International Airport. She thought it would be good for him to get away for a while.

 _An entire school semester, apparently._

His Mom had a second cousin or something from England and she'd almost had to beg to get _Petunia_ to agree to let him stay until the holidays. His Mom said Petunia had been oddly worried about Percy's safety in London, as if there would be anything worse than what he already been through in New York.

Of course, Petunia clearly didn't know he was a demigod. Considering his life for the past few years, he was quite capable of taking care of himself. A semester with a bunch of wimpy Brits wasn't even going to make the top one hundred of situations where he was in danger.

 _If only he knew how utterly wrong he was..._

He looked around, wondering where the Hades this Aunt Petunia or her husband, Vernon, were. Did they have the wrong flight information? He looked around for anyone that looked like they might be looking for someone then shrugged his shoulders, deciding he'd get his luggage and then look around some more.

As he waited for his bangs to appear on the conveyor belt, he felt the all too familiar sensation that someone was watching him. His hand moved to his pocket where Riptide had ridden throughout the flight; airport security clearly wasn't attuned to detecting mythological weapons as his sword went through the checkpoints without issue.

"Oy!" A gruff and annoying voice grunted from behind him.

Percy turned and his hand moved away from his pocket as he laid eyes on a bored looking fat kid who seemed completely uninterested in being there. His dark hair looked like it'd been cut by someone simply putting a bowl on his head and cutting anything longer than the bowl could cover. His baby blue shirt was way too big, which had to have been special ordered considering the gut this kid was sporting. He wore a pair on untied basketball shoes and way too big basketball shorts that seemed to be trying to fall down, probably a desperate attempt to get away from the huge ass that was tucked inside it.

"Uh," Percy raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"You Percy?" The kid asked. Percy simply nodded then turned and snatched his two bags off the baggage claim belt.

"I'm Dudley and you're late. Mum and Pop are waiting in the car, let's go!"

Percy gave the kid a strange look, "I was supposed to know that you guys were waiting in the car, how?"

Dudley's eyes narrowed and for a minute Percy thought he was going to try to punch him.

"Whatever; now you know. Let's go, I've got things to do today."

Percy rolled his eyes annoyed at the way this kid, his cousin supposedly, acted like it was his fault they'd been too lazy to even come inside so he knew where to go.

"Tell me if I'm hot or cold," Percy deadpanned. "Do these plans by any chance involve a cheeseburger?"

Dudley's face turned so red that Percy thought he was about to blow steam out of his ears.

"Stupid American git! Lucky for you there's so many people around. Otherwise I'd show you some manners right now."

Percy couldn't help but smile, "Ok bud, lead the way. In case you forgot, I've never been to London and have no idea where to go."

He followed Dudley out into the pick up area where he found what appeared to be a walrus in a suit looking impatiently at them from the driver's seat of a brown sedan. Beside the walrus was an older looking woman, maybe in her early fifties who had on a bit too much makeup but might have been attractive, twenty or thirty years earlier.

He saw the trunk of the sedan pop open as Dudley jumped into the backseat. After putting his two bags away, Percy slid into the opposite backseat, quickly realizing his mom had sent him off to suffer until Christmas for some cruel reason.

 _Yeah... Thanks mum._

"It's about time, boy!" Vernon grumbled as he threw the car into drive and pulled out into the lane leading towards the highway. The woman beside him, Petunia Percy guessed, shot him a look of irritation. She turned around and gave Percy a smile that was noticeably forced.

"Hello, Perseus." She tried for friendly but is came out strained and Percy started to wonder if his Mom was trying to push him to suicide by sending him with these people.

"Uh, hi." He said awkwardly. "Sorry, I've never been to London before, I didn't really know where to go."

Petunia glared at her husband, stopping him from speaking just as he looked ready to reply before she looked back at Percy.

"It's no problem, dear." She said sweetly. "It's nice to meet you, Perseus. It's been decades since I've seen your mother. You'll have to forgive us, we were a little caught off guard when your Mum asked if we'd take you in for a semester."

Percy nodded, unsure of what to really say. He wanted them to know this wasn't his first choice either but he figured that wouldn't help his relationship with his not so friendly Uncle Vernon and the jolly looking kid beside him.

"Yeah," Percy rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry, Mom kind of just sprung this on me too."

"You see, Petunia!" Vernon whined. "The boy doesn't even want to be here!"

"Vernon!" Petunia snapped. "It's one semester and Perseus is family!"

"Yeah," Dudley quipped from the back. "And so is Potter. Thanks for that Mum."

Petunia's glare snapped to her son he paid her no attention. Petunia tried to give Percy a reassuring smile but it didn't help Percy feel any less unwelcome with this pretty rude family he was apparently related to.

"Potter?" Percy asked, unsure of what else to say amid the awkward tension.

"Your new bunkmate," Dudley quipped. "I'm sure you two will get on brilliantly. You seem about as mental as that bloke."

"Dudley!" Petunia hissed but his mother seemed to have no affect on the overweight preteen.

"We're almost home," Vernon grunted, obviously interested in ending this conversation. It worked to end the chatter as they rode the last ten minutes in silence. As they turned, Percy read the road sign for Privet Drive, a road that was littered with identical houses lining both sides of the street. While not exactly luxurious, Percy was mildly interested in the fact that their house had a yard, something he never had growing up in New York.

They pulled into number four, a small home that looked no different than any other on the street. Vernon popped the trunk and got out, he and Dudley heading right inside without offering to help Percy with his luggage. Petunia, at least, waited for Percy to grab his stuff and walked with him inside. As they walked in, Percy almost gagged by the overwhelming smell of some kind of lemon cleaning product. The whole house almost sparkled it was so neat and clean. Distracted by the smell, Percy almost ran right into his Uncle Vernon, who was waiting at the bottom of the stair looking up impatiently.

"Come on, boy! Come help your new roommate with his things."

Percy opened his mouth to say he had no problem carrying his own stuff when a slender boy appeared at the top of the stairs. His had jet black hair, almost the same as Percy's. He looked a year or two younger and much thinner than Percy but he had a pair of bright green eyes that made Percy pause for a second. They were different than his sea green ones and hidden behind a pair of glasses but the kid's face hit Percy with a strong sense of deja vu. The weirdest part was that Percy knew why he felt that way.

This kid looked a lot like him.

If he didn't know better, he would think he just found his younger brother.

The boy was staring at him as well and looked like he was having the same kind of revelation.

"Oy! Let's go, Potter!" Vernon snapped. "Help the boy with his stuff. You two will be getting to know each other til the school year starts. You might as well start now."

"Vernon," Petunia interjected. "Perseus just got here. He's probably hungry."

Percy shook his head, "I ate on the plane. And I'm actually kind of wiped out... If that's okay, Aunt Petunia." He said kindly, realizing that his only ally in the family was his Aunt Petunia, though he doubted her concern was genuine. She seemed more worried that Percy would tell his mom about the rude family she sent him off too. But regardless of her reasons, Percy realized it would be best to try to be as nice and polite to Petunia as he could.

She looked like she wanted to say something but under Vernon's impatient stare, she nodded and walked towards the kitchen with Vernon right behind her.

As Percy turned towards the stairs, he was bumped hard from behind, making him drop his suitcases, one of them opening up and spilling out some of his clothes.

"Whoops," Dudley said annoyingly before narrowing his eyes at Percy. "Don't think I forgot about that quip about the cheeseburger, prat."

Percy's right hand clenched into a fist, "Sorry, I didn't mean to offend the love of your life. I won't mention her again."

Dudley's face looked like a tomato but the sound of his mother calling his name stopped him from attacking Percy, "Watch your back, Jackson."

Percy rolled his eyes, "I'd tell you to do the same but I doubt your neck can turn that far around carrying those extra chins."

"Duddy!" Petunia called from the kitchen.

He pointed a finger at Percy, "You're dead," he snarled before disappearing into the kitchen.

Percy reached down and started to grab his spilled clothes when he saw another pair of hands reach down to help him out. He looked up to find the Potter kid with a smile trying to force its way onto his face.

"It's okay," Percy said, "I can get it."

The boy ignored him and stuffed the last few shirts into the suitcase and closed it before picking it up.

"That was bloody brilliant," he grinned. "I thought steam was about to shoot from his ears."

Percy gave him a crooked smile, "Yeah, well, Dudley seems like a real nice guy. Not much different than his dad."

Potter looked at his seriously, "You have no idea. Come on, let's get upstairs before any of them come back out."

Percy followed the Potter kid up the stairs and into what had to be the smallest room in the house. Inside, two beds that looked like they were made for children sat on opposite sides of the room, which in the cramp setting put them about five feet apart.

"And the day just keeps getting better," Percy sighed. He looked over and saw his new roommate looking a little embarrassed. "But at least it seems I've got the only normal one in this house to live with. Dudley would probably try to eat me if I was sharing his room."

The boy chuckled a bit and set Percy's bag down on the empty bed. Percy did the same with his and extended his hand, "Hey, I'm Percy Jackson."

The boy took his hand, "Harry, Harry Potter."

 **A.N: Just so everyone knows, in this story, Percy is 16, right after the end of the Titan War. Harry is fourteen and about to enter his fourth year at Hogwarts. The year is 2017 and yes, I know the ages/years are wrong but this is my story and my party and I'll do what I want.**

 **I'm sure people are upset that I started a new story. Before you message me to complain about other stories you want updated, please reach out to my assistant who will try to schedule a time for you to express your concerns.**

 **I can tell you right now we don't anything available today for giving a fuck but we can try to pencil you in for a go fuck yourself early tomorrow.**

 **I know some readers are offended by my authors note: it's a joke, not a dick... don't take it so hard. It was my way to saying I know I have other unfinished stories but I still want to write this.**

 **For the "guests" who are butthurt but afraid to sign in: grow a pair and send me a pm.**


	2. Chapter 2

**_Harry_**

 **Ch. 2**

Harry carefully rolled out of his bed trying to not make a sound. His eyes were glued to the other side of the room where his new roommate, and apparent cousin, Percy, was still snoring softly in his bed. Harry had to suppress a laugh at the sight of the American. He had one leg off the bed, the other resting up against the wall, the small bed nowhere near big enough to contain his tall frame. His mouth was open and a healthy amount of drool was pooled on his pillow with still more leaking from his mouth.

Harry crept towards the closet, moving with a grace that surprised even him. He gripped the door knob and turned it as slow as he could, wincing as the door creaked when it opened. His eyes snapped back towards Percy who still hadn't moved an inch.

He turned back to the closet and carefully pulled down the blanket covering the oval shaped cage.

 _Hoot Hoot_

"Shhhhh!" Harry whispered. "You have to be quiet, Hedwig!"

The Snowy Owl titled her head to the side, her amber eyes looking up at Harry and making his heart break a little.

"Just a few more days, girl. Ron said he's going to get us out of here a few days early. I promise I'll let you..."

"You have a pet owl?" A groggy voice mumbled behind Harry making him nearly jump out of his skin. He turned around as his heart felt like it was about to beat out of his chest.

Percy was rubbing the sleep out of one of his eyes, the other looking at Hedwig with a mixture of surprise and curiosity.

"Uh... um..." Harry stuttered.

"Dude, that's pretty cool. She's a beautiful bird."

Hooooot Hoooooot Hedwig chirped, clearly pleased with the compliment.

"Yeah," Harry rubbed the back of his head and then casually moved in front of the closet, blocking Percy's view of the contents, most of which were hidden in his chest though there were a couple editions of the Daily Prophet littering the floor. Having Percy see a newspaper with moving photographs was not something he was prepared to explain.

Percy raised an eyebrow the action then shrugged, "Hey man," he said turning around, "all you had to say was don't look in the closet. Trust me, I understand the desire to keep things private."

Harry stared at his back, a small feeling of shame creeping up in him at the thought of making Percy feel like he had to hide his stuff from him.

"Sorry," Harry said quickly. "It's just..."

Percy turned back and smiled, "Dude, seriously, I get it. Private stuff. That's all I need to hear. I'm gonna jump in the shower, I was thinking of getting out of here early if you wanna come. I don't know if there's anything to do around here but spending the day with Tweedle Dee, Tweedle Dumb, and Tweedle Diabetes is not how I want to spend my first full day in England. I'm feeling a nice breakfast out at one of the cafes I drove by yesterday, my treat."

Harry tried to hold in his laugh but couldn't at the spot on nicknames for the Dursleys.

"Yeah, that sounds brilliant." He nodded. "Just give me like twenty minutes, I know a good cafe that maybe a thirty minute walk from here."

Percy nodded and then yawned and stretched his arms, shaking his head a little, "Stupid jet lag." He dug out a fresh set of clothes from his still packed bags and then slipped out of their room silently, leaving Harry alone with Hegwig.

He opened the cage and his pet owl jumped out and onto his arm.

"It's still early, do you want to go out and try to catch breakfast?"

Hegwig dipped her head, nudging Harry's arm affectionately making him smile. He walked over to his bed and pulled out the rolled up piece of parchment he had under his pillow.

"Okay, after that, can you bring this to Ron?" He placed the letter on the windowsill then opened the window. "Only a few more days and we can get out of here."

Hedwig chirped softly and then launched from Harry's arm and out of the window, spreading her wings and taking off in the early morning air. Harry glanced at the clock by his bed and shook his head, barely half past five, an ungodly hour of the morning.

Apparently Percy was an early riser.

He wasn't sure how much he was going to like that but then again, he hoped he only had a few days left in Little Whinging. He longed for freedom from the Durselys and the much more pleasant atmosphere of the Burrow.

He did feel pity for Percy. From what he'd seen, his distant cousin was a pretty decent chap. He'd only just met him but he could tell that they would get on quite well, their dislike from the Dursleys something that would draw any normal people together.

Harry heard the shower turn off and realized he was still in his PJs. He grabbed up the loose editions of the Daily Prophet and stuffed them into his trunk before grabbing himself a fresh set of clothes and getting dressed for the day.

 **-X-**

Harry and Percy spent the day roaming around Little Whinging. While it wasn't exactly a thrilling place, they kept themselves occupied trading stories about their lives. While neither knew they were getting very filtered versions from the other, it didn't make it any less enjoyable. After learning that they were actually related by blood, their moms being second cousins or something, they both laughed about their similar features. They sat on a pair of swings in a children's park, eating cakes that Harry had bought from a bakery down the street.

"So," Harry mumbled with his mouth full. "Why'd your mum send you here? You must have done something bad to get sent to the Dursleys".

Harry expected a sarcastic retort but instead the mirth vanished from Percy's face.

"I... I had a friend." Percy said slowly. "She... She died."

"Oh bloody hell," Harry cursed himself. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..."

"It's okay," Percy forced a smile. "I know you didn't know. It was only a few weeks ago, my mom thought it might be good for me to get away from the city for a little while."

Harry nodded sadly, "Sorry, I didn't mean to bring it up."

Percy shrugged, "It's no biggie. Talking about it isn't going to bring her back. Besides, you told me about your parents, you deserve to know the truth."

Harry studied the sand under his feet, his appetite having disappeared with the good mood.

"Oy!" A voice yelled from across the playground. Harry looked up and cursed under his breath. Marching across the courtyard with a pair of his goonies on each side was none other than Dudley, the look on his face told Harry this was not going to go well.

"We should go." Harry said, nodding in the direction of their cousin and his merry band of idiots.

Percy looked up but from his expression he obviously didn't know what was coming towards them.

"Seriously," Harry said getting up. "we should go."

Percy looked at him and then at Dudley and his crew, frowning at the urgency in Harry's voice.

"I take it you've had to deal with them before?" Percy asked, still not moving.

"They might have nothing but rocks in their heads but they have figured out how to use their size to their advantage." Harry answered, scowling as he realized their window for making a run for it was closing fast. "Percy, please, let's go."

Percy stared at him for a minute and then his face got a look Harry hadn't seen it before. It wasn't anger though. It was something else; a quiet confidence and Harry felt like this might not be the first time Percy had dealt with bullies before. He stood up quickly and put his hand on Harry's shoulder.

"Do me a favor, Harry?"

Harry raised his eyebrows in question.

"Don't get involved." Percy answered simply.

"There's five..." He tried to protest but Percy just smiled.

"I know, they should have brought more."

Harry opened his mouth but nothing came out before Percy stepped forward just as Dudley stopped a few feet away.

"There he is," Dudley pointed. "There's that stupid American bloke who thinks he's a comedian."

"That's good," Percy nodded. "You remembered me. I bet your mom would be proud, you're getting so smart."

"I don't care what my Mum said, you're dead Jackson!" Dudley snarled.

Percy looked at each of the cronies standing beside Dudley. They were all overweight, though none were as fat as his cousin. They were bigger than Dudley, maybe a year or two older. They had a mix and match of stupid and ugly grins as they looked at Percy standing in front of them fearlessly. They clearly had no doubt they were about to show this American kid his place. Harry felt his heart start to race knowing what was coming. Percy might have dealt with bullies before but the prats Dudley hung out with were meaner than most. Harry had experienced it first hand a couple times and he had no intention of letting Percy go through it as well.

He stepped forward, beside Percy, as his hand slowly moved to his pocket, a move Dudley noticed and scowled at.

"Piss off, Potter!" Dudley growled. "This doesn't involve you!"

"You must be brave bringing these four gits to fight for you!" Harry snapped back. "Go home, Dudley." His fingers wrapped around the slender piece of wood in his pocket, pulling it partially out. His friends laughed but Dudley's face paled a bit.

"You... You're bluffing. They'll kick you out of your freak school!"

Harry flinched a bit, knowing Dudley was right and also for the idiot bringing attention to Harry's alternative school, as his Uncle Vernon referred to it.

"Harry," Percy said calmly. "Please, step back. This is my fight, not yours."

Harry opened his mouth but Dudley cut him off, "See! Piss off! He knows he's getting what he deserves!"

Percy stepped in front of Harry and spread his hands, "I don't want to fight any of you. Please, just go find something shiny to distract yourself with and we'll go back to our conversation. I'm just trying to get to know my cousin Harry, I don't want any trouble."

 _Not exactly a great diplomatic approach, Harry thought dryly._

The ugly bloke on Dudley's left, a kid named Terrence, ran at Percy. Harry tried to pull out his wand but before he could, Percy put a hand to his chest and shoved him backwards, right into the swing where he landed on his butt in the seat, barely able to stop himself from flipping over backwards.

Just as Terrence drew back his fist to throw a punch, Percy jumped forward and sent a quick jab right into his neck. Terrence crumpled to the ground writhing as his hands reached for his throat, the blow blocking off his windpipe briefly.

Percy looked down but when he saw Terrence manage to suck in a painful breath, he looked up, his demeanor still calm and relaxed.

"Please," he said sincerely. "I don't want to fight. I apologize for the insults, don't make me hurt you."

Dudley looked at his friend shocked but before he could respond, two others, Oliver and Charlie Harry remembered, ran right at Percy. Oliver tackled Percy to the ground, holding him down while Charlie cocked back his arm, ready to unload first chance he got.

Harry jumped up and was about to run to intervene when Percy suddenly lifted his head only to throw it back violently into Oliver's face, the chubby boy's nose bursting with blood, the sound of the bone being broken making Harry flinch.

Charlie seemed to have been frozen by the sound too, not reacting in time to Percy siting up and kicking him right in the knob. Charlie let out a high pitched yelp and dropped to his knees, his hands clutched over his unmentionables as he went pale as a ghost.

Percy got up, looked down at Charlie and then simply nudged him to the side with his knee where Charlie fell like a tree, tears streaking down his fat face from the hard kick to the boys.

Percy brushed himself off and looked at Dudley and his last lackey, waiting patiently for them to decide their next move.

"Forget this," the lackey muttered. "You deal with him." He turned and jogged off, leaving Dudley standing alone, three of his friends writhing on the ground from surprisingly little effort from Percy.

Percy stalked towards Dudley who put up his fists but looked completely terrified without his backup.

"I'll wallop you, Jackson!"

Percy spread his arms and shook his head, "Just go home, Dudley. It's over." He turned back towards Harry and that was when Dudley struck.

"Percy!" Harry cried out, trying to warn him, thought it was too late. Dudley's wild punch only grazed Percy's head, making him stumble forward. Dudley tried to hit him again but Percy ducked the blow. He grabbed Dudley by the shirt, yanked him forward and then shoved him backwards, his foot slipping back their cousin's leg and sending him toppling onto his back.

Percy moved like a cat, pouncing towards Dudley who tried to swat him away. Rather than attack him, Percy caught his flailing arm and then stepped over it, twisting it over his leg and making Dudley screech as he bent it at the elbow in the wrong direction.

"Shut up!" Percy growled, yanking on his arm but that only made Dudley scream louder. He eased the tension on his arm and then loomed over him, glaring down at him. Harry approached slowly, still amazed at the ease in which Percy had taken down the entire entourage of thugs.

"Listen very carefully, Dudley." Percy hissed. "If you don't listen to me I'm going to snap your arm clean in half."

Dudley tried to squirm away but froze when Percy jerked his arm just enough to hurt a bit.

"Okay! Okay!" Dudley cried, tears already sliding down his face and almost making Harry feel bad for him.

 _The key word there was almost._

"From this point on, you will leave both me and Harry alone. If you so much as breathe menacingly in our direction, I will knock the teeth out of your stupid mouth. Do you get it?"

Dudley didn't reply at first and Percy wrench him arm, making him scream.

"ALRIGHT! ALRIGHT!" He whimpered. "Please! Please just stop!"

Percy looked up at Harry and Harry realized he was asking if he should or not. Despite the immense enjoyment he was getting watching this, he knew it was enough and nodded his head.

Percy let go of his arm and stepped back, walking backwards towards Harry.

Dudley almost jumped to his feet, looking at them with a terrified expression.

"You're bloody mental, you are! Mental!"

"You should know better than to screw with someone as mental as me then," Percy shrugged. "Now go find something fattening to drown your sadness in."

Dudley yanked one of his friends up as the others had got to their feet, looking fearfully at Percy.

Percy made a quick step towards them making them stumble back before turning and running off in the direction they'd come from.

"Idiots," Percy shook his head, turning around where Harry was still awestruck over what had just happened.

"Too much?" Percy asked.

Harry's mouth opened and then shut, making him look like a fish. Then he grinned widely, "That was incredible! How did you just do that?"

Percy smiled sheepishly, "Let's just say I've dealt with some bullies myself. And most of the time, the only way to get them to back off is to punch them in the teeth."

"You just took down four and you barely broke a sweat!" Harry exclaimed incredulously.

Percy sat back down in his swing, looking a little embarrassed by Harry's amazement.

"Yeah well, in New York, you learn to fight or you don't last long."

Harry's lips pursed as he thought about that sobering reality. His life hadn't been rainbows and sunshine but he rarely found himself in physical danger living with the Dursleys. He looked up and noticed the position of the sun.

"It's getting late. We should probably get back soon."

Percy nodded but didn't get up right away. He stared at the sand for a long minute, "You've got to tell me, Harry," he took a deep breath making Harry panic briefly about what he was about to ask.

"How bad is Petunia's cooking?"

Harry let out a breath he didn't mean to hold and laughed, "Sorry, Percy; you're not going to like what I have to say."

Percy groaned and threw his head in his hands.

"I totally should have broken his arm. At least if the Dursley's threw me out, I could have gone and bought a nice dinner."

Harry laughed and held out his hand. Percy took it and let Harry pull him up before they began the trek back towards Privet Drive.

"After the first few meals, the taste buds start to go numb." Harry offered.

Percy looked at him with his eyebrows raised, "Oh, gee, thanks Harry! That makes me feel so much better. Jerk." He shoved Harry who laughed at his response, realizing he didn't remember the last time he had this much fun in Little Whinging.

 **-X-**

Harry watched Percy shovel another piece of meatloaf into his mouth and had to bite his tongue to stop himself from laughing. The genuine look of anguish on his face in each bite was just so funny.

Harry had gotten used to Aunt Petunia's cooking years ago and meatloaf was actually one of the better meals. Seeing Percy's expression was priceless though. He obviously was not a fan of the hard and bland meal and Harry found his suffering to be surprisingly satisfying.

But not quite as satisfying as the look Dudley had throughout the meal. He looked like an abused puppy, terrified of the thought of Percy coming after him again. Most of the time Harry would have disliked seeing someone that way but Dudley was finally getting what he deserved and Harry couldn't help but enjoy his suffering.

What could he say, Harry was in a great mood. After the way Percy put Dudley in his place earlier, Harry was happier than he'd been, well, ever, at Number Four Privet Drive. Something about Percy just made him happy. He was an older, much more sarcastic, outspoken and tougher version of himself. Percy said and did all the things Harry wanted to do and being with him brought him a new kind of joy he'd never known before.

 _It was a familial bond._

All his life, Harry had had no real family. The Dursleys were the most perverse and unloving version of a family and it had hardened the young wizard's heart. But this distant cousin has managed to break through those hard walls in just a single day.

Harry's good mood vanished when he remembered the fact that he'd be heading to Hogwarts soon. If Ron came through, he'd be leaving in the next few days to spend the remainder of the summer at the Burrow. Ron had mentioned the World Cup of Quidditch but Harry wasn't sure what that meant.

As he shoved the last forkful of meatloaf into his mouth, the sound of a hard crack at the door froze everyone at the table.

Uncle Vernon glared at him, obviously expecting him to be the cause of the late arrival of a visitor of some kind.

Uncle Vernon got up and stalked to the door. Harry tried to listen for the sound of the door opening but it never came.

"Potter!" Vernon snapped from the door.

Harry got up, his mind racing as to what could waiting for him. As he entered the living room, his found his uncle's beady eyes glaring daggers at him.

"What did I tell you about your strange little letters?! We have a guest! How am I supposed to explain this to Perseus! The mail arrived hours ago!"

Vernon shoved the letter at Harry, obviously wanting him to read it out in the living room, away from the rest of the family and Percy who was oblivious to all this wizarding stuff.

Harry held the envelope in front of him, a little confused when he saw it was not addressed to anyone.

He slid his finger under the seal and opened it up, pulling out the parchment. As he read the first line, his eyes went comically wide.

"What?" Uncle Vernon growled. "What is it?"

It took Harry a minute to find his voice. He held the letter out in front of him in shock.

"It's... It's... It's not for me."

"What?" Vernon snapped.

Harry swallowed the lump in his throat, as a sudden rush of excitement coursed through his body.

"It's for Percy."

 **A.N: Just want to add a couple comments. 1) I've never read a PJO/HP crossover, so if this story is cliche or whatever, oh well, this is just what it is. 2) People have asked about the pairing/storyline. Well, for the pairing, obviously you'll find out when we get there. The storyline will roughly follow the HP books, with some additions, as needed. I've written the PJO/HOO storyline too much. I want to try something different.**

 **And for all the "guests" (ff dot net ) who were offended by my author's note... Yeah, lol. Cry me a river. Don't read my story. I don't care. Take your "favors" for favorites and follows and shove em up your ass. Or grow a pair and make an account and PM me. Don't hide like little twats behind your guest status.**


	3. Chapter 3

**_Percy_**

 **Ch. 3**

Percy pushed the other half of his meatloaf square around his plate, grateful the knock at the door had given him a break from forcing this chalky brick being called meatloaf down his throat. Harry's warning hadn't properly prepared him for the cuisine served at the Dursley home.

He could hear the muffled voice of his Uncle Vernon hissing at what he assumed was Harry before they went silent. He looked around the table. Dudley was doing his best impression of nun in prayer, his eyes never once rising further than his plate, obviously still scared about their confrontation earlier in the day.

 _Served the little prick right._

Aunt Petunia, on the other hand, was darting nervous glances towards the living room then turning back to the table with a forced smile. She was clearly quite nervous about what was going on in the living room but desperately trying not to show it for some reason.

Percy was apparently the only one at ease, though the rumbling in his stomach said it might be a less than pleasant night. Petunia's meatloaf felt like he'd swallowed a brick and his intenstines were staging a violent protest in hopes to sending the toxic substance from the hellhole from whence it came.

 _Unfortunately for him, he couldn't tell which end it was going to be ejected from, though it was clear neither going to be a pleasant experience for him._

"Pe... Perseus?" Uncle Vernon stuttered from the living room.

Before he could answer, Petunia jumped to her feet.

"Vernon!" She protested just as the pale face of Vernon stepped into the entrance to the living room. "What are you doing?"

He looked blankly at her for a minute and was about to reply when Harry slipped past the wide man, a megawatt smile plastered on his face.

"It's a letter for Percy!" He looked like a kid on Christmas, which Percy really didn't understand. For one, it was just a letter. And two, it had to be a mistake. Who would have sent him a letter, here in Britain? No one knew he was here, except him mom and Pau,l and he highly doubted they'd sent him a letter already considering they would have had to send it before he even left.

"Uh, a letter?" Percy looked around, confused at the horrified look on Petunia; the blank pale face of Vernon and the absolutely overjoyed expression Harry had.

He stepped towards Harry who was holding out what looked like an old piece of rolled up paper to him. Petunia tried to snatch it away but Harry pulled it back, a look of indignation on his face.

"It's for Percy," he scolded, as if he were a parent talking to a child.

Petunia looked downright miserable but seemed to take being chastised in stride, not trying to grab the piece of rolled up paper again. While that struck him as odd, his curiosity of what the paper contained had peaked his interest.

Percy awkwardly took it from Harry who was almost bouncing up and down with happiness. He unrolled the paper, his eyes widening a bit at what lay inside.

 _ **HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY**_

 **Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore**

 **(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,**

 **Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)**

 _Dear Mr. Jackson,_

 _We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment._

 _Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl._

 _Yours sincerely,_

 _Minerva McGonagall_

 _Deputy Headmistress_

Percy read the letter over three times, making sure he read it correctly. Finally he looked up and laughed.

"Oh, very funny, Harry. School for witchcraft and wizardry? I'll give you credit though, impressive work on the penmanship." Percy chuckled and tossed the paper onto the table.

Harry shook his head but his smile never wavered, "No, Percy! It's no joke! You're a wizard, just like me!"

Petunia covered her mouth with her hand and looked ready to faint. Vernon was still pale as a ghost and Dudley had used the distraction to scoop the contents of his mother and father's plates onto his own, still keeping his eyes on his food rather than looking up.

Percy looked around, waiting for punchline but from the genuine expressions of distress from his Aunt and Uncle, the meatloaf seemed to get twice as heavy in his stomach.

"Right," he mirthlessly laughed. "Okay Harry, joke's over."

Harry shook his head and reached into his pocket pulling out what appeared to be a slender looking stick, waving it in front of him like this explained everything.

"It's real, Percy! Look, _Lumos_!" The tip of the stick lite up like a lightbulb, brightening the room a great deal and making the meatloaf brick get heavier yet again.

Percy took a step back from his ecstatic cousin, "Listen, Harry..." He shook his head. "I don't know about this witchcraft or wizardry stuff but I'm telling you, that's not me. This is a mistake. I'm not like you, trust me."

Before Harry could reply, a hard knock at the door made Petunia shriek in horror.

"No!" She wailed. "No! No! No! No..."

Another hard knock at the door and Petunia fell back into her chair. Vernon moved to her side, holding her up like she was about to pass out.

"Okay..." Percy looked around, not sure why everyone was acting the way they were. He was a lot of things but one thing he wasn't was a gods damn witch or wizard or warlock or whatever the Hades Harry was trying to tell him.

Harry looked like he was too excited to do anything, still waving his glowing stick around like it explained everything.

Another hard knock and Percy jumped towards the door, anxious for a reason to get away from the distraught Dursleys and a way too peppy Harry.

He opened the door and stepped back in surprise at what was waiting on the other side.

"Oh Hades no," Percy shook his head. "Dude, I don't know who you are but not interested. Try the next house over."

Standing on the other side of the door was a tall elderly man. Percy didn't have to look past the robes to know this was not someone he wanted to talk to. He had long silver hair and a silver beard that was so long he could have tucked it into his belt. He wore half moon spectacles in front of bright blue eyes. His long crooked nose looked like it'd been reshaped with a fist a few times. He smiled kindly despite Percy's clear rejection of his arrival.

"Perseus Jackson," the elderly man smiled. "It is a pleasure to meet you."

"Professor Dumbledore!" Harry exclaimed from behind Percy. "Come in! Come in!"

The professor looked past Harry to the horrified looking Dursleys, "You'll have to excuse my, uh, unexpected visit," he said apologetically though Percy got the feeling he didn't feel bad at all. "But it appears unforeseen events have required my appearance."

Uncle Vernon finally seemed to come out of his stupor and shook his head vehemently, "No! No! No! This is unacceptable! We were told..."

With a flick of Dumbledore's hand, Vernon was in his seat. His eyes rolled back in his head and he fell fast asleep. Percy looked in disbelief as Petunia and Dudley both passed out in the chairs, Dudley face planting into his plate of meatloaf and snoring loudly.

"Hey!" Percy growled. "What do you think you're doing?" His hand went to his pocket and grabbed Riptide only for Harry to grab his arm, shaking his head.

"Percy, it's fine. Trust me, Professor Dumbledore is a friend."

Dumbledore smiled at the young wizard, "Thank you, my dear boy, Harry. But you'll have to forgive me as well. I require a word in private with young Mr. Jackson."

With another flick of his hand, Harry's eyes rolled back and he would have collapsed onto the floor if not for another quick flick of the wrist from the old man. Harry's body levitated in the air before slowly floating towards the couch, dropping down gently on the soft cushions.

Percy had seen enough though. He pulled out Riptide and flipped off the cap, the celestial bronze blade appearing in his hand as he held it out in front of him protectively.

"I don't know who you are but you've got five seconds to get out of this house before we have a real problem."

Dumbledore eyed the blade with delight, "It has been many years since I saw a weapon such as that. Endued with magic as well, that is a magnificent piece of weaponry."

Percy glared at the old man, "Listen bud, I've got a strong policy against abusing the elderly but you're pushing my last buttons here. Get to the part of what you want so I can decide if you're some kind of monster or just a really weird old dude."

Dumbledore clapped his hands together, his smile only growing.

"Well, I must say, I'm quite relieved to hear about your stance on elder abuse. I'm not sure this old body could withstand much abuse these days. In fact, I think I should have a seat, my back just isn't what it used to be."

The elderly man shuffled over to the armchair and eased himself down, "Oh yes," he sighed happily, "that's much better."

Percy stared at the old man, still holding Riptide in front of him but suddenly starting to feel stupid as Dumbledore kicked his feet up on the ottoman and laced his fingers together on his lap.

"Ugh, dude, you're making me feel stupid. If you're gonna to transform into a blood sucking Empousa or something can we just skip this part?"

A gentle laughed hummed from deep within the elder wizard's chest, unable to hide his amusement at this boy's blunt way to speaking.

"I assure you, my young demigod, that I have no plans to transform into any kind of foul creature."

A chill ran down Percy's spine. He lunged forward and pressed the tip of his sword right into the old man's chest.

"How do you know I'm a demigod?!" He growled, now more convinced this was a monster or maybe some minor god looking to kill him.

Dumbledore looked down his long crooked nose at the bronze blade prodding him in the chest.

"Yes, well, I wouldn't be a proper Headmaster if I didn't know about the students I invite to my school, now would I?"

Percy narrowed his eyes, "Hogwarts School of Witches and Warlocks or whatever? What are you, some deranged old son of Hecate?"

Dumbledore smiled like the question amused him greatly, "Witchcraft and Wizardry you mean, and no, I am not a child of a god or goddess."

"Then how'd you do that to Harry and the others?" Percy pressed, still not removing the blade from the man's chest.

"Maybe," Dumbledore mused, "It may just be easier if I were to show you."

Before Percy could react, the man vanished with a small pop. Percy whirled around and found the man now standing in the doorway. He held a small curved piece of wood in his hand.

"Lower your blade, Perseus Jackson!" Dumbledore's voice boomed from the doorway. It seemed impossible for a man so old to produce such a sound, though Percy had no plans to obey him regardless. He stepped towards the man who waved his little stick, spreading his hands and sending an arc of fire out. Percy dove for cover behind the chair. When he felt no heat, he lifted his head and was baffled to find the entire room engulfed in flames. Percy was about to summon the water from the faucet when he realized that the temperature in the room hadn't changed at all. The room was surely on fire, unless his eyes were deceiving him, and when he looked down at the carpet, he found himself kneeling in flames but feeling no pain.

"What is this?" He growled. He raised his hands and an explosion from the kitchen nearly shook the house. A thick jet of water shot into the room, spraying the flames but having no effect.

Percy looked at the old man who was looking thoroughly amused when he felt his anger grow. He pushed his hands towards the wizard and the water formed a thick jet and shot right at him.

Dumbledore laughed with delight and flicked his wand, at least that was what Percy had guessed it was, as Percy's jet made a sharp turn and shot right past the wizard and out the still open door. Percy was too stunned to keep his focus and he lost his control of the water he was pulling from the faucet.

Dumbledore still stood in the doorway as the jet of water ended, his wand aimed right at Percy. A bright red light shot from the tip so fast Percy couldn't move in time. It hit him in the chest and sent him flying into the wall, cracking the sheetrock and leaving a Percy sized imprint.

When he hit the ground, Percy knew he had to make his move. Whatever the Hades this guy was, he was powerful and Percy wasn't going to last long if this fight continued. He jumped to his feet and made to attack when he was hit square in the chest with another bright light. He vaguely heard the words _Petrificus Totalus_ before he felt like his entire body locked up and collapsed onto the carpet, unable to move.

"Well," Dumbledore smiled, "I think I've made my point. No, I am not a son of Hecate. I am a wizard. As is your cousin Harry and so are thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands of others in the world. Magic is something passed down through family lines, though in some, such as yours, it lays dormant for generations. You are a wizard Percy Jackson, of that I am certain. But you are the first wizard demigod I've ever encountered. What that means, I have no idea. It could enhance your magical abilities or it could hinder them. It could have no effect. But like young Harry, you have magical blood flowing through your body. In fact, you have the same magical blood and Mr. Potter here."

Dumbledore looked at Percy, seemingly waiting for a response before he laughed softly, "Oh my, perhaps it's my mind that's going fastest. He waved his wand and Percy was suddenly able to move again.

He quickly jumped to his feet and backed away from the old wizard.

"Listen, all you said, that's great. But I've already got enough crazy in my life. Being a son of Poseidon is the limit of weird I can take. I don't want to be a wizard or whatever. I just wanna be a normal mortal guy, okay. I came here to get away from the weird, not to pick up more."

Dumbledore nodded like he'd expecting that answer.

"Of course. Of course. That is your right. You have had a tough life and I understand you want to get away from it all."

Percy eyed Dumbledore suspiciously, "Oh yeah? Just like that? Wanna be a wizard? No thanks. Okay, have a nice life?"

Dumbledore looked confused, "Yes. That's sums it up pretty well. I'm not a Greek God, Perseus. I have no desire to use or manipulate you. I am simply an old teacher who offered a new experience to a young man who has decided he isn't interested."

Percy narrowed his eyes, waiting for the line where he adds the part where he really doesn't have a choice.

"Well, I think I've taken up enough of your time." Dumbledore smiled. He waved his wand at the wall which repaired itself in seconds. Then he flicked it towards the kitchen and Percy could hear the sink he had destroyed repairing itself, the water soaking the room evaporating and leaving no trace it'd been there. The old wizard walked to the door, "They should wake in a few minutes." He nodded towards Harry and the kitchen. He opened the door when Percy had to ask.

"That's really it?"

Dumbledore turned and scrunched his eyebrows in confusion, "Yes, I think I covered everything." He turned to walk out then paused. "Well, other than the part with Harry but that's not really important anymore."

Percy wanted to throw Riptide through Dumbledore's back but he restrained himself, for the moment at least.

"What part about Harry?"

Dumbledore frowned, "He's got a difficult few years ahead of him. But I have faith he'll be more than able to do what is necessary."

Percy clenched his fists. He'd played right into the old wizard's hand. He'd only know Harry for a day but he was family. He was family and he was a great kid; barely younger than himself but still full of that youthful innocence that the Olympians had stolen from him.

"What do you mean, difficult years?" Percy growled, hating himself for even opening the door for this conversation.

"Oh?" Dumbledore ran a hand through his silver beard. "Just an old prophecy. You've noticed that odd scar on his head, have you not?"

Percy didn't answer as he tried to choose his words carefully.

"What prophecy? And does he even know about it?"

To this, the old wizard frowned. "No, he is not yet aware of what awaits him." The genuine pain in which Dumbledore answered surprised Percy. Despite his personal thoughts on this strange man, there was no lie in the regret he felt for Harry's situation.

Percy was silent for a minute as he and Dumbledore seemed to have a staring contest, neither willing to break it and speak next.

"Does he need me?" Percy finally asked through gritted teeth.

Dumbledore paused for a minute, his eyes drifting over to Harry's sleeping form and then back to Percy. It was clear he did not like the answer he was about to give.

"I think he does."

Percy closed his eyes. His brain was screaming at him to tell this old man to stick his head up his backside. He knew that was the smart response, the one he needed to give. But his heart: curse his stupid stupid heart. He looked at Harry sleeping peacefully on the couch, his face looking like it didn't have a care in the world. It was the kind of peace he wished he'd gotten to enjoy when he was fourteen. But the Fates had different plans. The old hags were the worst thing he'd ever known in his life. They'd sent him here, knowing what would happen and what he would do. If he ever had the chance, forget the consequences, he'd smack all three of them right across their haggard looking faces. Eternity in the Fields of Punishment would be well worth it that brief moment of satisfaction.

He looked back up at Dumbledore and his body deflated, "Okay. I'll do it."

Dumbledore gave him a sad smile, "I know."

Percy looked questioningly at him and Dumbledore's eyes almost seemed to shine from the doorway.

"You're exploits are known around the world, in certain circles. They don't speak about your power or strength, Percy Jackson. They speak of your heart and your devotion to the people you care about. You are something this world I'm afraid is very lacking in."

Percy didn't say anything, unsure of what he could say back to that.

Dumbledore stepped through the doorway and was about to close it when he looked back one last time.

"Expect a visitor early tomorrow. You and Harry will need to shop for the school year. After you visit Ollivander's, tell Hagrid you need to go to Gringotts. I think you'll be surprised at what you find there."

"What does that mean?" Percy asked but Dumbledore had already closed the door. Percy didn't bother chasing after him. Instead he retreated to the chair and plopped down, throwing his head back and wondering how he managed to always get himself into so much trouble.

"Percy?" A sleepy voice said from across the room.

"Yeah, Harry?" He sighed back.

"Wha... What happened? Where's professor Dumbledore?"

Percy took a deep breath then smiled at his cousin, "Gone. But we had a good little chat. Turns out you were right, I'm just like you."

Harry sat up excitedly, "Really?"

He couldn't help but smile, "Yup. Some guy, Hagard, er..."

"Hagrid?" Harry seemed even more excited, if that was possible.

"Yeah, Hagrid. He'll be coming to get us early tomorrow. We've got shopping to do for school, I guess."

Harry's grin was so wide, Percy was pretty sure he could see back to his molars. Then his smile vanished.

"Wait, what happened? How did I fall asleep?"

"Dumbledore wanted to spare me the embarrassment of you watching me freak out about the whole wizard thing." Percy lied. "He said to pass on his apologies but he said he knew you'd understand."

Harry thought about it for a minute then his smile returned. He was about to say something when Percy cut him off.

"Harry," he said patiently. "I know you're excited and I am too. But I need a little time to process all of this. Can we just call it a night early and we can talk about all of this tomorrow."

Harry seemed to deflate a little but then he nodded, "Yeah, of course. Sorry, I'm just excited. This year at Hogwarts is going to be brilliant!"

Percy gave him a weary smile, "Yeah, it's going to something, I'm sure of that. I'm gonna go to bed. You should come too, unless you wanna wait for the Dursleys to wake up."

Harry glanced towards the kitchen, a look of horror on his face, "You know, I'm pretty peaked myself. Knocking off early sounds good."

They made their way upstairs and Percy immediately got into bed, his mind swimming with a million thoughts; of what he was walking into and also memories of the past. A nagging feeling told him he had just bit off more than he was ready to chew.

 **A.N: So, Percy is basically like a Mud Blood or whatever. Probably a theme used before but like I said, I've never read a PJO/HP crossover, so its new to me. Thoughts?**


	4. Chapter 4

_**Percy**_

 **Ch. 4**

The cool morning air made Percy shiver as he stood in the driveway of number Four, Privet Drive. Uncle Vernon had left for work less than a half hour earlier and the distraught looks and disturbing sounds Aunt Petunia was making had led Percy and Harry to wait outside for this Hagrid guy.

Unfortunately, Dumbledore hadn't been very specific about the time of his arrival, leaving Percy to wonder if they would be spending half the morning standing awkwardly in the driveway.

Percy was trying to avoid Harry's eyes. He could tell his cousin was itching to start talking about the whole being a wizard and Hogwarts stuff. While he understood Harry's excitement, he was having trouble finding his own excitement about it.

 _Okay, that wasn't entirely true._

After he'd had a while to digest how easily that Dumbledore guy had incapacitated him, _which was mostly because he'd been so surprised by the whole wizard and magic thing... At least that's what he'd decided_ , and how he'd been so easily played into agreeing to attend this supposed school for witches and wizards, he couldn't help but get excited about the fact he could apparently do magic.

 _I mean come on! Sure he was sixteen but who seriously doesn't want to suddenly find out they had the ability to do magic? Whether you're five or thirty five, it's pretty damn cool!_

Though he had had similar thoughts about finding out he was a demigod god, so he was also reserving judgment on all this magic stuff.

He looked at Harry who was biting his lip anxiously and couldn't help but laugh a little.

"Alright, Harry. Let's have it. What's on your mind?"

The young wizard's face lit up like a Christmas tree, "You're a wizard!"

Percy chuckled again and spread his hands, "Oh yeah, thanks! I'd forgotten all about that crazy old man putting everyone in the house to sleep with a flick of his hand!"

Harry wasn't deterred by his sarcasm, "But really! First I find out I have an American cousin and now it turns out he's a wizard! This is just brilliant! I can't wait to introduce you to Ron and Hermione!"

"Ron and Hermione?" Percy raised an eyebrow.

Harry's smile grew, "They're my mates. My two best friends, you'll love them."

Percy nodded, not really sure of what else to say to that. Though if they were Harry's best friends, he supposed that they'd be his friends as well.

Before Harry could say anything else, the roar of an engine made both their heads turn to the street. As the roaring grew louder, Percy got a sinking feeling in his stomach. His eyes drifted up just as a motorcycle with a sidecar emerged out of the clouds. Driving the vehicle was a guy who made Percy's hand drift to his pocket on instinct. He had to be seven or eight feet tall and about half as wide.

Percy looked around, wondering how this guy planned to just drop from the sky unnoticed. But as he looked two houses down where a mother was walking two small children out to their car, they seemed oblivious to the roaring engine getting closer and closer to touching down.

"Muggles don't see much," Harry said looking amused at his confused expression.

"Muggles?"

"Non magical people." Harry answered. "They don't see the world the way we do."

"Because of the mist?" Percy hadn't meant to say that out loud but apparently his mouth decided to anyway because Harry gave him a strange look.

Harry scrunched his eyebrows, "The what?"

Percy shook his head, "Nothing. Just something I saw in a movie, it's not important. Uh, what do you mean they don't see much?"

Harry gave a half shrug, "They just don't look at things closely. At least that's how it was explained to me. I don't get how it works really, but they probably see a big truck coming this direction instead of a motorcycle flying through the air. Their eyes see what they want to see, what their mind can comprehend and accept."

Percy nodded numbly but his mind already raced, wondering if this was the same mist that shielded the mythological world from mortals.

Before he could give it much more thought, the big bike touched down at the end of the street and then came to a skidding stop right in front of Percy and Harry. Percy glanced back at the neighbor but she was just shaking her head, like whatever she saw annoyed her.

As Percy turned back around, he took a step back, his hand going to Riptide again, though the action seemed to go unnoticed. This guy looked a little like the Laistrygonian Giants who'd infiltrated his gym class and tried to kill him via dodgeball.

 _Oh, what a day that had been._

He felt a wave of sadness run through him as he thought about his brother Tyson, who'd saved his life that day.

And when Harry ran up and embraced the huge guy, Percy knew he wasn't that kind of giant.

"Hagrid," Harry said stepping back and gesturing to Percy, "This is my cousin, Percy Jackson."

"Pleasure to meet ya, Percy!" Hagrid boomed, extending a big meaty hand towards him.

Percy took it and tried to give him a firm handshake but the size of this guy's hand made him feel like a small child.

"What are the odds?" Hagrid laughed. "A cousin of Harry Potter and a wizard to boot!"

Percy gave an awkward chuckle, "Yeah... Pretty weird."

Hagrid didn't seem to catch on to his discomfort and patted Harry on the back, almost knocking him to the ground, "Aye, at least I won't have to give this one a pig's tail like the chubby one!"

Harry laughed a little once he'd caught his balance.

"So, should we?" Harry smiled at the lumbering giant.

"Right!" Hagrid clapped his hands together like he'd forgotten why he was there. "Busy day! I always love visiting Ollivander's! I haven't been since I brought you, Harry! Blimey, how the years fly by. Back then you were but knee high to a grasshopper, you were!"

Harry blushed a little embarrassed and made his way over to the sidecar. Percy started to follow then hesitated.

"Are we gonna, uh, fly to wherever we're going?"

"Don't you worry, it's a short hop into the city. Diagon Alley's not far at all. We'll barely get in the air before we're on our way down again." Hagrid assured him but Percy still felt uneasy. Sure, Zeus had allowed him to fly to England but he didn't want to press his luck. The last thing he wanted was to get him, Harry and this Hagrid guy blasted out of the sky by lightning.

"Get in! Busy day! Busy day I tell ya!" Hagrid urged him.

Percy bit his lip then mentally rationalized that this was no different than riding a Pegasus, which Zeus had allowed him to do dozens of times before. He squeezed himself into the seat next to Harry, which is not that easy in a sidecar made for one, before Hagrid revved the engine and shot down Privet Drive. The motorcycle quickly reached speeds that would have turned Percy's mom pale white. As they reached the end of the street, the big man leaned back and the bike shot into the sky.

Percy kept his eyes on the floor of the sidecar, not wanting to look up in case Zeus decided it was a good time to blast him. If he was going to die, he'd prefer not to see it coming.

Just as Hagrid had promised, it was less than ten minutes before he felt his stomach drop as they started to descend. He didn't look up until he was jerked forward by the wheels touching down again.

Percy looked around as he climbed out, his expression becoming confused. He wasn't sure what he was expecting but this definitely wasn't it. They were in some random alley in London, and not a particularly nice one.

Red brick walls lined both sides with few side doors from the buildings sprinkled down the length of the alley. It was dark, shaded from the sun and rather dirty. It seemed a lot of people had decided it was a great place to just throw their garbage. He looked down and saw a used syringe, taking care to step over it as he walked around to the front of the motorcycle.

"So, this is nice? Which of these lovely doors leads to the bookstore?"

Harry smirked, "Just wait, you'll see."

Percy did, though he was confused about what he was about to see. Hagrid turned off the motorcycle and came around to the far wall of the alley. He studied the wall for a moment then tapped his knuckle against a few of the bricks and stepped back. Percy was about to say something when the bricks he'd touched suddenly sunk into the wall. Then a soft hum emanated from the wall and the bricks came to life, shifting and moving and forming a rectangular entrance, just big enough for a person to walk through, or a small giant to crouch through in Hagrid's case. Percy peered through and his mouth dropped open a little.

Through the opening, a whole other alley lay before him. He looked up and shook his head when he saw the tall brick building in front of them. He had no idea how there could be an alley inside this building. Harry's soft laughter snapped him out of his daze and he glared at his younger cousin.

"Sorry mate," Harry didn't sound sorry. "I promise, I looked more shocked then you do when I first came here."

"Come on, boys," Hagrid said walking into the opening and into the brightly lit alley. A cobblestone pathway lined the ground and led inside where shops and stores littered each side of the alley. Dozens of people walked down the walkway, some dressed normally, others in robes not much different than the ones Percy had seen Dumbledore wearing. The sun shined brightly from overhead and Percy decided not to even try to figure out how that was possible.

He and Harry trailed after Hagrid, following him down the street and through the crowds of pedestrians. Percy was pleasantly surprised to see how happy and genuinely nice everyone was. It seemed like everyone knew Harry, though Harry seemed a little uncomfortable with so many people stopping him to say hello. Other people just stared at Harry as they walked, something Percy didn't like very much, though none of the stares were malicious, most just seemed awed by the young wizard. They followed Hagrid until he stopped in front of a shop that looked like it came out of the nineteen twenties.

"Ollivander's." Hagrid announced happily. "In you go, Percy. First things first, we need to get you a wand."

Percy froze for a second. He hadn't given it much thought but he should have expected this. He was going to need to get a wand, like the one Dumbledore had used against him.

He cautiously pushed open the door and stepped inside, Harry and Hagrid following in behind him. The shop seemed empty from what he could see. It kind of looked like a huge shoe department store, complete with two of those sliding ladders to retrieve the boxes that lined the walls on both sides going from the floor to the ceiling. Percy was distracted by the hundreds of boxes and didn't see the shopkeep until he was right in front of him.

"Can I help you?"

Percy stumbled back, right into Hagrid who chuckled at his startled expression.

The shopkeep was a old man with pale silver eyes. His stringy grey hair was long and thin but his face had an amused expression. His eyes and smile had a gentle kindness that kind of reminded him of Hestia and put his nerves at ease.

"Aye, Mr. Ollivander" Hagrid said pleasantly. "My young friend here is in need of a wand. He's heading to Hogwarts in a few days for the first time."

Mr. Ollivander studied Percy for a minute then shot Hagrid an odd look, "He seems rather old for a first year at Hogwarts."

Hagrid laughed lightly like he'd expected that, "This is Percy Jackson, he's come from the United States and is the cousin of Harry here. Professor Dumbledore himself has asked me to help him get the proper supplies to begin his schooling."

Ollivander looked Percy over for another minute then nodded his head, "Right. Well, Mr. Jackson. Let's see what we can find for you." Ollivander studied Percy for a minute. He eyed him from head to toe and Percy got the feeling he was being sized for a suit rather than a magical wand. Then Ollivander suddenly turned and jumped on his ladder with the grace a man of his age had no business having. The ladder rolled halfway down the length of the wall then stopped. The old man climbed up and grabbed a box from the third highest row. He climbed back down and brought it over the counter and laid it down.

"Let's try this," he opened the box revealing a wand about a foot long. It was straight and a dark brown color with spiral design carved into the handle. "Thirteen inches, Cherry, with Unicorn Hair, stiff."

Percy looked down at the wand, unsure of what he was supposed to do.

"Um, okay... I'll take it?"

"No, my boy." Ollivander chided. "Pick it up. The wand will either accept or reject you. The wand chooses the wizard, not the other way around."

Percy gingerly reached in and pulled the wooden wand up, holding it out in front of him tentatively.

"Well," Ollivander encouraged. "Give it flick."

Percy flicked it in front of him, trying to mimick what he'd seen Dumbledore do the night before. He was blasted backwards into Harry, sending them both crashing to the ground as an explosion from the tip of the wand sent everything on the counter flying in different directions. Ollivander took the brunt of the impact, flying back into the wall with eyes wide. He managed to stay on his feet, though his hair was now sticking up in several directions and his was face covered in a thin layer of ash.

"That would be no." He said simply, taking the wand from Percy and returning it to the box. He set it on the counter and then looked thoughtful, studying Percy for a minute before he snapped his fingers.

"Perhaps," he didn't finish the sentence as he went to the opposite wall and climbed the ladder to retrieve another box. He brought it back and set it on the table, gesturing for Percy to try it out.

"Twelve and half inches, Fir, Dragon Heartstring, pliable." Olivander said as Percy picked up the wand. He flicked it away from Ollivander this time and a sonic boom erupted from the wand, blasting the shop window into a millions pieces out into the street.

"Uh, whoops. I'm sorry..." Percy said frowning.

"No need for that, happens all the time." Ollivander shook his head. "Hmmm... Let's see..." He moved deeper in the shop then came back and laid another box in front of Percy who really didn't want to pick it up. He did though with Harry, Hagrid and Ollivander all looking at him expectantly.

"Nine and three quarter inches; Cherry, Threstral tail hair, reasonably pliable." The elder man announced.

Percy picked it up and tried to flick it gently. Instead of an explosion, Percy felt a big shock shoot through his arm, forcing him to drop the wand.

Ollivander shook his head, "Okay, let's see..." He jumped on the ladder again and rolled down the aisle of wands. He brought another box back to Percy and smiled encouragingly.

"Ten inches; Cypress; Veela Hair; very stiff."

Percy picked it up and repeated the process, this time the want erupted in flames forcing him to drop it.

Ollivander retreated into the store again to get a new wand, only for the results to stay the same. Percy went through a dozen wands and his arm was starting to ache trying so many wands that clearly were not into him.

"it's okay, Percy." Harry assured him. "Sometimes it takes a while to find the right wand."

"Indeed," Ollivander agreed. "I have yet to fail in finding a wizard the right wand." He didn't rush off this time, instead studying Percy closely for a long moment. Just as Percy began to feel awkward, the wand maker got a strange look on his face.

"I wonder..." He didn't elaborate though. Instead he just retreated deep into the store until he was out of sight.

"Maybe I'm not supposed to have a wand." Percy said looking at Harry and Hagrid.

"That's nonsense!" Hagrid protested. "Like Harry said, it can just take a while sometimes."

"This store's gonna crumble or my arm will blow off if we keep this up for much longer."

"This happens, Percy." Harry countered. "It took me a while to find the right wand."

"Oh yeah?" Percy asked. "How long?"

Harry looked at the floor, not having expected to be called on it.

"Well, only a few but others take longer than this."

Percy wasn't convinced but also didn't want to debate the topic anymore. He waited as the minutes stretched on since Ollivander disappeared from sight.

Just as Percy was about to say something, Ollivander returned, holding an older looking box that had a thin layer of dust covering it. Percy frowned, thinking he was getting a wand no one else wanted considering how long it'd cleary been there. The wand maker set it down and blew the dust off, forming a small cloud in front of Percy who coughed and tried to swat it away, shooting the old man an irritated glare.

"This is a unique wand here." Ollivander explained. "Twelve inches; Palm; Pegasus tail hair, moderately stiff."

Percy looked at the wand skeptically but reached down and picked it up.

He felt a shiver run down his spine as he held the wand. He waved it around and a bright light shot from the wand, illuminating the shop and making the wand maker smile.

"Interesting," he mused. "This is a very rare wand. I've only made a handful from Palm wood and almost none with Pegasus tail hair. Its the only wand in existence with those two rare components together."

Percy looked up, "Is that bad?"

Ollivander smiled, "Not at all, my boy. It means you're a unique wizard. This wand has been waiting for a long time for you to come claim it."

Percy just nodded, feeling the oddly strong connection he had with the wand.

"What do I owe you?"

Ollivander wave him off, "No charge. I do not sell wands, I find them the wizards they are meant for. You just be careful with that wand, even I don't know what it will be like in your hands."

"Perfect!" Hagrid grinned. "Now, we just need your books."

Percy nodded then paused, "Dumbledore said I should go to Gringotts after Ollivander's. What is Gringotts?"

"The wizarding bank, of course." Hagrid replied. "Odd Dumbledore would say that but who am I to argue. Come on, we'll go there before we get your books for the year."

Hagrid led them outside and further down the alley. As they passed a few more brightly colored shop windows, Percy paused, his eyes drawn to a small side alley. Unlike the rest of the area, this was dark with no sunlight shining through.

"Hey," Percy asked stopping his two companions, "What's down here?"

"Knockturn Alley." Hagrid grunted. "Not a place you want to be spotted. Too many questionable witches and wizards and too comfortable with the Dark Arts, if you ask me. A dodgy place Percy, dodgy place indeed." He said looking at the dimly light alley with distaste.

Percy noticed the few people walking around the dark side street had their hoods up and heads down, obviously trying to keep a low profile.

"Dark Arts?" Percy asked.

"Dark Magic," Harry said seriously.

"Oh," Percy nodded. "So, not a good place then."

"I'd say not," Hagrid shook his head, "now come along, we've still got much to do today."

Percy gave the alley one last look then followed Hagrid. They walked past a few more shops then came to one of the biggest buildings in the alley. It was made from smooth stone and had two huge pillars lining the two steps leading to the two big glass doors at the entrance. Carved into the stone above the doors were the big words GRINGOTTS BANK.

"Keep up," Hagrid said making his way inside. When they stepped in, Percy froze.

"What the..."

"Goblins," Hagrid whispered, "and don't stare. Goblins are not the nicest folks you'll come across. Best to keep this short and sweet. Goblins are not particularly fond of wizards."

Percy tried not to stare but he almost laughed. If a day ago someone had told him to imagine a goblin, he would have been pretty spot on with his guess. Most were behind tall desks but a few walked around on the lobby floor. They were all about four feet tall with extremely long fingers. Their faces were a bit haggard looking, with sharp curves and long pointed noses and ears. Most had bald heads but the few with hair probably would have looked better without it. Their hair looked thin, coarse and stringy.

Percy shook his head as he found one glaring daggers at him and he realized he'd been staring.

"Come on, come on." Hagrid hurried him along. He led him to one of the teller desks where a goblin had his nose buried in a large thin book. When he didn't look up, Hagrid cleared his throat.

Two beady narrowed eyes looked up and glared at Hagrid. Then they moved to his left, to Harry where they didn't get any less harsh but perhaps a bit more interested.

"Wishing to visit your vault, Mr. Potter?"

"Oh, uh, no. My cousin, we're here for him."

The goblin's head turned to Percy, "You? What do you need?"

Percy ran a hand through his unruly long black hair, "Um, not really sure. Professor Dumbledore just said I needed to come to Gringotts."

The goblin glared at him for a long minute and Percy was expecting to be told off.

"Name?"

Percy was surprised but recovered, "Uh, Percy Jackson."

The goblin paused for a moment. Then he looked down at Percy, scrutinizing him.

"Jackson?" He asked.

"Yup," Percy nodded. "Percy Jackson."

"Wait here." The goblin stepped back from his counter and waved another goblin over. This one was dressed in a rather nice suit, if Percy did say so. He still like like a weird little gremlin but he was a sharply dressed one.

The snazzy looking goblin hopped up onto what Percy guessed was a box and peered over the counter at him. The first goblin whispered something in his ear before he tilted his head, giving Percy an appraising glance.

"Jackson?" He asked.

Percy looked confused at Hagrid who just nodded encouragingly.

"Last time I checked."

"Last known magical relative?" The goblin, clearly the higher ranking one, asked.

Percy spread his hands, "No idea."

"Your wand." The goblin said curtly, holding out his hand.

Percy looked back at Harry and Hagrid but Hagrid just nodded for him to do it. Percy reached into his pocket and pulled out his newly acquired wand. He was about to hand it to the goblin but then paused, a strong urge to hold onto it making his hesitate. He pushed the feeling aside and handed it over to the goblin who held it in his long spindly fingers.

He held it to his face then brought it to his face, running the wand across it and sucking in a deep breath through his pointed nose.

Percy wanted to protest, not thrilled to see his brand new wand being used as a tissue for a gangly old hobbit.

The goblin closed his eyes for a moment, almost as if he was trying to place the scent he got from the wand. Then his eyes snapped open.

"Yes. Come with me. I'll show you to your vault, Mr. Jackson."

"My vault?" Percy looked confused.

The goblin nodded, "Yes, it's been a few generations but the vault has remained untouched."

"Wait," Percy said holding up his hands. "This must be a mistake. Neither of my parents were wizards and neither of their parents. How can I have a vault?"

"Magical blood doesn't show itself every generation." Hagrid said. "But seeing as you're a wizard, you've got someone in your line that was a witch or wizard."

"Wouldn't it be Harry's vault too then? I mean, he's my cousin, distantly."

"Mr. Potter has a vault. If you are indeed kin, then that could simply mean two siblings married into different families. I assure you, the wand identifies with the bloodline of the wizard. You are the first Jackson to come into Gringotts in nearly a century!" The goblin explain, looking thoroughly annoyed at having to explain this.

"Alright," Percy said quickly. "My vault, where do I go?"

"Follow me." The goblin grunted, stepping off his pedestal and waddling out from behind the desk.

Percy glanced back at Harry who just shrugged, "This is good. Vaults are where wizards keep their gold and other valuable items."

"Gold?" Percy raised an eyebrow then grinned, "Alrighty then. Off we go."

They followed the goblin to the back of the bank and through a set of thick oak doors. When Percy walked through, he paused again at what he saw. Instead of the nice marble of the lobby, it was bare rock. Directly in front of them was one of those old fashioned handcars sitting on a set of tracks.

"Whoa, we aren't really getting in that thing, are we?"

"You two are." Hagrid nodded. "Grab what you need and I'll meet you back in the lobby."

The goblin was already in the little handcar, looking impatiently for Harry and Percy.

"Okay," Percy said. "Thanks, Hagrid."

Hagrid smiled back but made a shooing motion before Harry and Percy stepped into the car, fitting in snugly behind the tiny goblin.

"Hold on," the goblin said before released the break and grabbing the bars that helped to steer.

"Oh godsssss!" Percy yelped as the car shot off the second the break was released.

Percy liked to think he'd sat bravely throughout the ride but in reality, he spent the short ride clutching Harry and doing his best not to scream as the car raced down the tracks. Despite the apparent bars for steering, it didn't seem like they had any affect on their little roller coaster of death.

They sped through turns, up hills and then down bigger ones before coming to a screeching halt right in front of a big metal door that looked like one of those big bank vaults from the cartoons.

Their goblin escort waddled out of the cart and up to the doors. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a large key.

"Mr. Jackson," he held out the key.

Percy took it and found the keyhole easily considering it was basically right smack dab in the middle of the iron door.

The second he placed the key inside, Percy could hear the sounds of metal locks opening before the door of the vault melted away to reveal a cavelike opening crammed from floor to ceiling with golden coins and goblets, silver armor and jeweled flasks filled with gods only know what.

"Holy... Shit." Percy gawked.

The goblin stepped forward and handed Percy a small leather satchel, "Make your withdrawal, I will wait outside."

Percy just nodded numbly, "Is any of this in, you know, mortal currency?"

The goblin gave him a look that seemed to ask if he was kidding. When it was clear it was a serious question, the goblin just sighed tiredly, "You can exchange currency in the lobby if you wish. Now please, I have other customers to help."

Percy stepped inside and then looked back at Harry who was grinning like an idiot.

"Dude, help yourself. My money is your money, Harry."

Harry shook his head, "It's funny, I looked just like you when I first stepped into my vault. Shocking when you first see it, right?"

Percy walked further inside, eyeing he mounds of treasure with disbelief. All those years he and his mom lived paycheck to paycheck and they had a fortune just sitting in London, waiting for them.

He started to filled his bag with gold coins, grinning when he found it seemed to be a magical bag and took far more than it should have. Once he had grabbed what had to be a small fortune, he turned to Harry.

"I need to exchange some of this for mortal money. I'm going to send my mom something that will knock her socks off."

Harry laughed at the thought and nodded as they both made their way out of the vault. The minute they stepped outside, the vault closed itself up, locking with a number of loud clicks of metal gears falling into place.

Percy barely remembered the ride out to the lobby. His mind was racing with the image of his mom's face when she got his first letter. By the time they'd stopped, the grin on his face probably made him look a little unstable.

They found Hagrid waiting for them in lobby, looking a tad uncomfortable with so many little goblins running around, barely coming up to his waist.

They walked out of Gringotts and Hagrid was pointing to a shop somewhere down the street when someone loudly said Harry's name from behind them.

Percy turned and raised an eyebrow when he saw a girl, maybe fourteen or fifteen, run up and wrap Harry in a big hug.

"Herminone!" Harry wheezed from her tight embrace.

The girl stepped back and Percy finally got a good look at her. She had brown hair that was straightened down to her shoulders. She wore regular clothes, a pair of blue jeans and light pink hoody. She smiled widely at Harry, her teeth a little bit big for her face but her smile was nice. Her face was actually quite pretty though Percy got the impression she didn't really put much effort into making her look pretty. She seemed to have a kind of sneaky, natural cuteness to her she had yet to realize.

She started talking to Harry at a million words a minute before suddenly stopping when she noticed Percy standing between her best friend and Hagrid.

"Um, can I help you?"

Percy raised an eyebrow, feeling slightly offended by her tone.

"Herminone!" Harry laughed. "Don't be rude. I haven't had to a chance to tell you because everything happened so quick."

She took a step back, looking at Harry confused.

Harry's smile just grew a little, "Hermione, this is my cousin, Percy Jackson. He's from the states. He's a wizard and he's coming to Hogwarts."

She turned and gave Percy an analyzing look that stuck deep in his heart. It wasn't anything about her that did it. It was the way she seemed to be sizing him up and analyzing every aspect of him in a matter of seconds, including the best way to take him down. It was the way Annabeth looked at him when they first met.

He forced those painful memories aside though and extended his hand, "Hi, I'm Percy. It's nice to meet you."

 **A.N: I'm not pairing anyone up, yet. I have yet to decide. You'll know when the characters do, lol.**

 **A handful of people were upset with the ease in which Percy was handled by Dumbledore. For one, Percy hasn't dealt with magic before in this fic. So he was caught off guard. Two, I read Kane Chronicles but not Son of Sobek. I don't give a fuck what happened in that story. Percy's not "magic resistant"... That's just stupid. If I made him magic proof, this story would be lame as fuck. He'd just Gary Stu his way through the story, spells bouncing off him like he was god damn superman. The story is only interesting if the characters have challenges. But yes, Percy's demigod powers will come into play, I assure you, but when I decide. And I'll address the Curse of Achilles when I'm ready. Don't assume anything.**

 **But thank for the huge outpouring of support... I haven't been this excited writing a fic for a years ;)**


	5. Chapter 5

**_Percy_**

 **Ch. 5**

Harry's friend Hermione seemed frozen, staring at his outstretched hand but unsure of whether or not she wanted to shake it. Percy tried not to be offended but it was hard considering he'd literally just met this chick and she was acting like he was trying to hand her a flask of Greek Fire.

He pulled his hand back, his face a combination of miffed and confused, "Or not, I guess."

Harry glared at his friend, "Hermione! Are you mental? This is my cousin, Percy! Don't be rude!"

Hermione shook her head like she was coming out of a daze, "Your cousin? He just, what, appeared at your door a couple days before you go to Hogwarts?"

"Hermione!" Hagrid said in a scolding tone.

Harry's face had gone from surprised to genuinely angry, "Actually, he came to stay with the Dursleys. We're related on our mum's side and a letter came from Hogwarts and then Professor Dumbledore himself came to speak with Percy."

"Dumbledore came to Little Whinging?" Hermione now looked taken aback.

"Yes," Harry said curtly. "And turns out Percy is the first wizard in his line for a few generations. Gringotts verified his magical bloodline and gave him access to his family vault."

Hermione looked at Percy and he could see the regret in her eyes as she extended her hand to him.

"Yeah," he rubbed the back of his head. "I'm gonna take a hard pass on that handshake now."

Hermione frowned and started to pull her hand back, looking quite embarrassed. Harry was still glaring at her for questioning the first family outside of the Dursleys he'd ever met.

"Totally kidding," Percy chuckled as he reached forward and caught her hand before it was out of reach. "Random people showing up claiming to be wizards sounds pretty fishy to me too."

Hermione looked surprised but didn't hesitate to shake his hand this time, "I'm sorry for that. It's just..."

Percy cut her off as he held her hand, "Seriously, not a big deal. I mean, from what I've gathered, people don't randomly show up and find out their wizards at sixteen. You're suspicious seems pretty justified."

Hermione looked down at her hand still held in his larger, rough hand and her cheeks reddened a little. Percy noticed and quickly let go.

"Yes, well, that was still rather rude of me. I apologize for that. So you're Harry's cousin?"

"Distantly," Percy nodded. "My mom was like second or third cousins with his mom. But for all intents and purposes, yes, Harry here is my cousin. One of the few I've met that I like." He smiled as he thought about his "cousins and seconds cousins" at Camp Half Blood. He actually liked Nico and Thalia but the rest was a mixed bag. He couldn't honestly say he was a huge fan of the Ares cabin though they did come through in the end.

He noticed Harry and Hermione staring at him and realized he'd been spacing out thinking about camp.

"So," he looked back at Hagrid. "Books next?"

"Right," Hagrid nodded.

"What are you doing here, Hermione?" Harry asked. He still looked a tad angry but tried not to show it.

"I'm here with Ron and his family." She answered. "They're in Flourish and Blotts."

"Oh, that's great!" Hagrid boomed. "I was supposed to drop you two off with the Ron after we we're done here anyway. This will save me the trip."

They followed Hermione across the street into the bookstore, which was almost at capacity for people. Percy, Harry and Hermione weaved their way through the crowds, looking for Ron and his family. As the reached a staircase, Percy watched as both Harry and Hermione seemed to stiffen. He looked over their shoulders where a redhead about Harry's age was standing next to what Percy could only assume was an albino.

The kid's skin was pale white and his hair matched his complexion. He was standing next to the redhead with what seemed to be a mocking smile.

"I'm surprised they still let you into Hogwarts with these raggedy old used books. Can't your family even afford proper school supplies, Weasleby?"

Percy watched Harry make to step forward and quickly grabbed him by the shoulder, pulling him back and slipping in front.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Percy yelled, his arm extended and shaking as he pointed at the pale skinned kid. The entire bookstore went silent, all eyes turning towards the sounds of the excessive scream.

"It's... It's... It's... a ghost!" Percy was trembling, a look of terror covering his face.

The pale kid suddenly looked embarrassed, his face turning red with so many eyes on him.

"Oh, phew!" Percy said patting his chest like he was worried about his heart. "False alarm. He's alive. He just hasn't seen sunlight in years. Sorry everyone! Sorry! False alarm!"

Murmuring broke out among the shop patrons, a number of the younger customers laughing at the look of embarrassment the pale kid had on his face. People slowly went back to their shopping and the albino kid noticed Harry and Hermione standing behind the kid who'd made a scene mocking him.

He jumped down from the steps, landing right in front of Percy and pulling out a wand, "How dare yo..."

Before he could even finish the sentence, Percy grabbed the wrist holding the wand and squeezed until the kid dropped it. He placed his foot over it and just stared at the kid, waiting to see what he'd do.

He shoved Percy but it had no effect. Percy didn't move an inch. He stayed there glowering down at shorter kid.

"Potter!" The kid snapped. "Who is your pet brute?"

Percy tilted his head to the side and the kid took a nervous step back.

"You know, when I was growing up, no matter which school I went to, and there were a lot, there was always that one rich prick who thought he was better than everyone else. I'm quite pleased to see I've already found the next one."

Percy lifted his foot and the kid quickly grabbed his wand, a look of fear on his face as he looked up at Percy.

"This is my cousin, Percy Jackson, Malfoy." Harry said trying to suppress his smirk. "He'll be joining us at Hogwarts this year."

Malfoy shot a nervous look towards Percy then sneered at Harry, "We'll see about that after my father hears about this."

"Oh, wow!" Percy laughed. "This is too good. What are you? Fourteen? Fifteen? Gonna go run and tell on me to your Daddy? Does your mommy still wipe your ass in the bathroom too?"

Malfoy looked utterly horrified by Percy's rude and brash comments. He spun around in a whirl and stalked back up the stairs to the second floor.

Once Malfoy was gone, the redhead stepped towards Percy, looking at him in awe. Before Percy could stop him, the kid wrapped him in a hug. Percy awkwardly pushed him back after a minute, though the kid was just grinning like a fool.

"That was the most brilliant thing I've ever witnessed in my life!" He beamed before turning to Harry. "Are you serious? This is your cousin and he's coming to Hogwarts?"

Harry couldn't help but smile at Ron's excitement, "Yeah Ron, this is my cousin Percy. I didn't know he was a wizard when I wrote you last."

"I don't care if he's a troll! He's my hero! I've never seen someone shut that git Malfoy up more beautifully!"

"That was a little vulgar." Hermione said trying to sound offended but Percy could tell she loved every second of it too.

"Sorry about that," Percy said giving her an apologetic smile. "He just bothered me. I grew up in basically a single mother house. I've met plenty of kids like that and they get under my skin."

Hermione seemed surprised by the apology, "Oh, well, I guess I can understand that. The ghost part was rather funny." She smiled, obviously not a big fan of Malfoy.

"Jeez, is he like allergic to the sun. That kid looked like an albino." Percy shook his head thinking about the little coward scrambling away. Before anyone could reply, a red headed woman appeared at the top of the stairs.

"Harry Pottter!" She beamed.

"Mrs. Weasley," Harry smiled back. Mrs. Weasley made her way down the stairs, a small red headed girl trailing after her, and wrapped Harry in a tight hug when she'd reached them. She stepped back and put a hand on Harry's cheek, looking affectionately at him.

Percy watched silently as Mrs. Weasley embraced Harry like he was one of her own. She was short and her face looked a little weary. She had plump cheeks and her hair was a tad darker red than Ron or the girl now standing behind her. Despite the weariness, she seemed to be almost beaming in happiness at the sight of Harry. Her brown eyes were kind and though she was probably close to fifty, she had a pretty face.

"You've grown so much!" She exclaimed at the sight of Harry who blushed a little embarrassed, though his smile never wavered. "But you're looking a little peakish, my dear! We'll have to get a proper meal in you as soon as we get home!"

Her eyes moved from Harry to Hermione right beside him and then landed on Percy.

"Hello, dear," she said kindly but seemed confused why he was standing with them.

"Mrs. Weasley," Harry smiled. "This is my cousin, Percy Jackson."

A look of surprise covered her face, "Your cousin?"

"Molly!" The booming voice of Hagrid said from across the bookstore. Hagrid was a good two heads taller than anyone else in the shop so he was easy to locate though he was having difficulty navigating his way towards them.

He managed and reached into his raggedy brown coat, pulling out an envelope and handing it to Mrs. Weasley. "Don't mean to just spring this on ya but I'd planned on coming by and explaining it to you."

Mrs. Weasley took the envelope, which opened on its own accord. She plucked out the letter and read through it quickly, her eyes rising at one point before she looked back up, shaking her head with a smile.

"Dumbledore! That man!" She said in mock exasperation. She turned to Percy and gave him a kind smile before handing Hagrid the letter. "Of course, Hagrid. We wouldn't have it any other way. Harry's family is our family."

Hagrid gave her an appreciative smile, "You're a saint, Molly."

"Oh come now, Hagrid!" She laughed. "Now," she didn't give Percy a chance to protest before she pulled him into a hug, though it wasn't as big as the one Harry had got, likely because she didn't want to startle Percy. "Let's have his booklist, Hagrid. I'll make sure he gets everything he needs!"

Hagrid pulled another piece of paper from his coat and handed it to Molly who scanned it then looked confused.

"Are you sure this is right?" She asked. "These books are from different years for Hogwarts."

Hagrid just shrugged, "Professor Dumbledore made the list, I'm sure he's got his reasons."

"Of course," she nodded then handed the letter to Percy. "Why don't you take that up to the front. I'll grab what you need and meet you, Harry and Hermione outside once I'm done gathering yours and everyone else's books."

"Um, okay." Percy nodded then turned to Harry who nodded knowingly.

"I'll help you. Let's go."

Percy and Harry got in line with Hermione right behind them, waiting patiently untl they'd reached the counter. Harry took the letter and handed it to the cashier and explained Mrs. Weasley was getting the books from the list.

"That'll be forty galleons," the girl, a cute brunette, smiled at Percy.

He reached for his pouch and pulled out a handful of the coins and set them on the counter uncertainly.

"Um," the brunette looked at him strangely, "Are you okay?"

Harry laughed at Percy's look of embarrassment, "That's way too much, Percy. Sorry, Katie, he's a little new to this." He picked out the correct amount and then handed it to the cashier who's smile was now a little flirtatious as she looked at Percy.

"It is?" He looked around and noticed Hermione standing behind Harry with a list of her own. "What about for both of there's too?" He gestured to Hermione who had her nose buried in her list, thinking about the courses she was going to take this year.

She looked up surprised but before she could speak, Percy grabbed her list from her.

"Hey!" She protested.

Percy held out his hand and Harry produced a list of his own, though it was rather crumpled from being in his pocket since he'd gotten in weeks earlier. Percy handed them to the cashier who looked them over then slid about a third of the coins back towards Percy.

"Would you like a receipt?"

"Um, sure." He shrugged. The girl pulled out a old looking piece of paper and then Percy's eyes widened when a feather... No, a quill, he realized, began writing on its own. The girl folded the paper and handed it to Percy along with both his, Harry's and Hermione's book lists, a noticeable blush on her face as she gave it to him. Of course Percy was completely oblivious to the girl's rather obvious fondness of him as he made his way outside with Harry and Hermione trailing after him.

"Hey!" Hermione protested when they got outside. "I gave Mrs. Weasley the money to pay for my books, you didn't need to do that."

Percy shrugged, "Yesterday, I had a few hundred dollars to my name. Today, I find out a have an entire vault full of gold from some distant relative who I've never heard of. Don't think too much about it, it's not even really my money."

Hermione grabbed the papers from Percy's hand and opened up the receipt to see how much her books had cost. When she read it, her face reddened a little.

"What is it?" Harry asked. "Was it a lot?"

Hermione just shook her head, "She didn't write you a receipt. She just wrote down her name."

Percy's eyes widened a little and he grabbed the paper back from her, "Katie Bell?" He read then was confused when that was all it said. "I'm confused, why would she just write down her name?"

Hermione's face turned even redder while Harry was just trying not to laugh.

"That's her way of letting you know she liked you, obviously." Hermione said like it was so simple.

Harry's laughter finally escaped, "We don't use phones, Percy. I think she was giving you her name in case you wanted to send her an owl."

"An owl?" Percy was trying to tell if he was serious. "Is that code for something?"

Harry just gave him a soft slap on the back, "Don't worry about it, you'll learn soon enough. Besides, I know Katie, she's on my Quidditch team at school."

"Quidditch?" Percy asked, his confusion only growing.

"It's a sport," Harry shook his head. "I'll explain as much as I can before we get to school. All you need to know right now is that Katie obviously fancied you and that you'll see her at school, if you're interested."

Percy shook his head, realizing how much he was going to have to learn in this strange new world of witches and wizards. Then a smile crept onto his face, that Katie girl was rather cute.

"Great," Hermione rolled her eyes, "Harry's cousin is going to be a Casanova." She made to walk back towards the book store but Percy stepped in her way.

"Don't do that." He said seriously.

"What?" She said stepping back, her expression irritated.

"Think you know me." Percy stared right into her brown eyes, his own sea green ones held an intensity that startled her. "You don't know anything about me."

Harry gentle guided Percy away with a hand to his back, "Relax Percy, she didn't mean anything by it. Just wait here, Ron and his mum should be out soon."

Percy nodded but didn't reply as Harry walked over to Hermione who was looking utterly confused at what set him off.

"He came to England because a friend of his died. _She_ was his best friend." He whispered, putting emphasis on the _she._

Hermione frowned and felt a little bad for what she said, "I didn't know."

"I know," Harry gave her a reassuring smile. "But it only happened a few weeks ago."

"I should apologize..." She started but Harry shook his head.

'It's fine, Hermione. Percy's a really nice guy, just give him a minute, I promise he won't hold it against you."

Hermione looked like she wanted to argue but then decided against it. Thankfully, Mrs. Weasley came out of Flourish and Blotts a few moments later, a small bag at her side and Ron and the younger redheaded girl right behind her.

"Hermione?" Mrs. Weasley asked confused. "They said your books were already paid for."

"Yes, sorry Mrs. Weasley. Percy paid for both our lists when he was at the cashier."

Mrs. Weasley turned to Percy who just shrugged his shoulders, "I wasn't sure how these gallon things work."

She laughed softly, "Galleons, my boy. And no problem, here, take the money Hermione gave to me." She handed Percy a handful of gold coins and started ushering them up the street, saying something about the flu that Percy didn't really understand.

Percy tossed the pouch at the smaller redheaded girl who caught it with surprise. She was about to ask what he was doing when Percy held a finger to his mouth, a smile tugging at his lips as he gave her a playful wink.

Ron tried to snatch the pouch from his sister but she was far too quick, tucking it into her pocket and smirking at him before running up to catch up to their mother.

"Mate!" Ron whined. "Why'd you give that to Ginny? She'll just waste it on something foolish!"

Percy smirked, "Oh, were you going to spend it on extra school supplies?"

Ron opened his mouth to protest when Hermione elbowed him in the ribs, effectively shutting him up.

"Technically, if Percy didn't want it, then it'd go back to me. And I think Ginny's earned that and so much more for the years of suffering she's endured living with you."

Ron scowled at her and looked like he wanted to continue his protest but Mrs. Weasley stopped outside a weathered old building with a big wooden sign that read: **The Leaky Cauldron**

"Come along," Mrs. Weasley shooed them inside.

Percy followed the others inside and then froze once inside. He blinked a few times as he looked around at the room they were in. It looked like a cross between a cafe and living room. A handful of people sat at small tables, some dressed in normal clothes while others wore robes and others even stranger things. What really caught his eye was the broom on the far side of the room that was sweeping the floor, by itself, the closest person behind a small desk and paying it no mind.

 _Why did he not know about magic as a kid? That broom could have saved him hours of chores helping his mother clean their apartment with his scumbag ex-stepfather seemingly only trying to make the room dirtier as he worked._

Percy shook his head, pushing out the part of his mind that was still mesmerized by the self cleaning broom. Everyone else had made their way over the fireplace which burned with a small fire, though it seemed odd considering it was August.

Mrs. Weasley reached into her pocket and produced a sparkling neon green powder. She handed a pinch to Ginny, then Ron, then Hermione and Harry before holding her hand out of Percy.

"Um," he said awkwardly, "What is this?"

"Floo powder, my dear." She smiled then shook her head, "Silly me, of course you don't know what this is. Not a problem! You'll just go with me!"

"Go with you?"

"It's a mode of transportation," Harry answered for him. "It's magical. Don't think too much about it, Mrs. Weasley will make sure you go where you should."

Mrs. Weasley smiled appreciatively at Harry.

"Wait," Harry said just as Ginny approached the fireplace. "We don't have any of our things."

"Already waiting for you," Mrs. Weasley promised. "Professor Dumbledore's letter says he's taken care of it."

"Brilliant," Harry said and turned to the fireplace, his face lighting up at the thought of going to the Burrow.

Ginny tossed the green powder into the fire and Percy jumped back when the flames roared and turned emerald green.

"Greek Fire," He said nervously.

Everyone looked back at him confused before Ginny stepped into the flames and muttered something under her breath before her both vanished into the flames.

"What the Hades..." Percy said under his breath so only he could hear this time, though Hermione turned and gave him an odd look.

One by one, Harry, Ron and Hermione tossed the powder into the fireplace and then disappeared into the flames. The room's few people lounging around didn't seemed surprised people were just up and disappearing into flames.

Percy had just been staring in shock until Mrs. Weasley gently grabbed his hand.

"Nothing to worry about, Percy dear. I promise this is the safest way to travel. Just hold my hand and I'll take care of everything else."

He gave the fireplace one more nervous glance but then allowed Mrs. Weasley to lead him up to the fire. She tossed in her powder and stepped inside, pulling Percy in with her.

Percy closed his eyes, expecting to be burned only to smile when the flames felt cool on his skin.

"Hold on, dear." Mrs. Weasley said before muttering the word, _Burrow_ , under her breath and then Percy's entire world was turned upside down.

 **A.N: Not interested in debating with anyone anymore about how Percy should fare against magic. If you don't like the way I write it, write you own fic. But other than that, I'd love to hear your thoughts, concerns, and ideas about the story. Also, things will pick up in a few chapters. I'd prefer to be thorough and detailed in this story. I actually expect this to be my best story yet.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Ch. 6**

The minute Percy's feet him the ground again, he stumbled forward and fell to his knees. Harry, Hermione and Ron all jumped back as he looked ready to unload the contents of his stomach. He managed to hold his last meal down, though his face was a ghostly white that would have rivaled Malfoy's.

"That..." Percy swallowed hard. "Was intense."

"Sorry dear," Mrs. Weasley frowned. "It can be a bit overwhelming your first time."

Percy slowly stood back up, wobbling a little as he got his bearings. When he looked up, his eyes widened a little as the redheads seemed to have multiplied. He figured he'd slammed his head at some point because he was seeing two of the same person standing behind an older looking man.

Suddenly feeling uncomfortable under all their questioning looks, he made an awkward wave.

"Uh, hi. I'm, uh, Percy."

"Percy?" One of the shorter redheads asked, looking equally intrigued and offended by his name.

"Hush, Percy!" Mrs. Weasley chided. "Give the boy a minute, he just travelled by floo network for the first time in his life."

She pulled out her wand and waved it in the direction of the kitchen. The faucet turned on and a glass floated underneath, filling itself then floating over to him. He took it gingerly but then gulped down the whole glass, the nausea and dizziness disappearing as soon as the water touched his lips.

Harry cleared his throat, albeit it a little awkwardly with so many people all waiting for some kind of explanation for this new arrival.

"This is my cousin, Percy Jackson." He introduced. "He's from the states and he's just found out he's a wizard."

"And he'll be staying with us until he's goes off to school." Mrs. Weasley added.

"He's a little old to just learn he's a wizard," one of the adult redheads said, not rudely, more curiously.

"Dumbledore himself came to visit Percy," Harry explained. "I guess he went unnoticed being in the states."

The older redheaded man stepped forward. He was tall, close to six feet, with thinning red hair and bright blue eyes, just like Ron and Ginny had. He wore loose fitting robes and had smile lines under his eyes, making Percy think he smiled often. He extended his hand to Percy.

"Arthur Weasley, it's a pleasure to meet you, Percy Jackson." Percy shook his hand then turned as two older looking redheads stepped forward. "And these are my two oldest boys, Charlie and Bill."

Percy shook hands with the two adult Weasley boys, pleased to find they seemed as friendly as their parents.

Next up came a shorter redhead, his hair was curly and he stood with perfect posture. Too perfect actually, it seemed he was trying to make himself look tall, which just kind of looked weird. His face looked like it was going for a regal expression, though it came off more annoying than anything.

"And this is my son, Percy."

"Another Percy?" Percy grinned at the Weasley boy, "never met a Percy I didn't like." He extended his hand and the Weasley Percy took it, though it made Percy want to pull away when his hand felt like a wet noodle in his.

"Yes, very nice to meet you, Mr. Jackson." Percy Weasley said politely.

"Nice to meet you too, Mr. Weasley." Percy said awkwardly but the redheaded Percy seemed to be quite pleased by the proper name.

If was a relief when he was pushed aside by the two boys who Percy had originally thought were one that he was seeing double of.

"And the twins, Fred and George." Mr. Weasley introduced. Percy shook their hands and didn't miss the mischievous look they exchanged as they approached him.

"Harry's cousin, eh?" One asked. "Good to meet ya." They both said in perfect sync with each other, which was oddly humorous.

"Care for a toffee?" The first one smiled, holding out a piece of candy in a gold and silver wrapper.

"They're pretty good," his twin added, nodded his head encouragingly.

Percy took the candy, though he had no plans to eat it. He'd seen that look enough from the Stoll brothers to recognize a prank being pulled. He just smiled appreciatively, "Thanks," he tucked it into his pocket.

"And you've met my daughter, Ginny." Mr. Weasley gestured to the twelve or thirteen year old redheaded girl standing beside her mother. "And of course, that leaves Ronald."

"Gee, thanks Dad." Ron rolled his eyes.

"Well," Mrs. Weasley clapped her hands now that Percy had been introduced to the whole Weasley clan. "Why don't you, Harry and Hermione show Percy the house while I make dinner? He'll be sleeping with you and Harry tonight. After his tour, come back down, you can help us set up the table outside. It's a perfect evening to eat outside." She nodded to Ron who gestured for Percy to follow him, Harry and Hermione towards the stairs.

"And don't take all day, Ronald Weasley." Mrs. Weasley warned. "It's a tour, not a free pass for you to lounge around until the food's ready!"

Ron gave him mom a silent thumbs up as he started up the steps with Percy behind him and Harry and Hermione trailing up the rear.

Percy followed Ron up the oddly designed stairs. Rather than go right up, they sort of circled their way up with different rooms laid haphazardly off the staircase as they ascended. He couldn't be sure, but Percy thought they must have been on the fifth floor when Ron pushed open the door and announced they'd reached his room.

"Dude," Percy shook his head. "Your house is big. Are we on the fifth floor?"

Ron laughed, "Yeah, well mum and dad have had to add rooms as they had more kids. Ginny's on the first floor since she's a girl and I'm all the way up here, being the youngest boy."

Percy just shook his head. He had tried to imagine what this house looked like. They were on the fifth floor but other than the first floor, the rest of the floors were maybe a third as big, making him wish he'd seen the house from the outside. It must have just had a big skinny tower protruding from the first floor.

Ron led them inside and plopped down on a couch in the side of the small room. Percy looked around then froze and stared amazed at all the strange posters adorning the walls. They were of people riding broomsticks, which was a little surprising itself, though not nearly as surprising as the fact that they were moving!

Percy approached one of the posters and slowly touched it with his finger, jumping back when he was positive the guy riding the broomstick turned and gave him a dirty look.

"They're enchanted," Harry was trying not to laugh at him. "And those are quidditch players."

Percy turned and noticed that all three were trying not to laugh at his amazement. He gave them a steely glare that actually wiped the smiles off their faces, something that made him smirk triumphantly.

Percy sat down at the edge of Ron's bed, feeling relaxed for the first time all day. The Weasley house was cluttered and very oddly built but it had a very comfortable, relaxed atmosphere. Though he'd just met them, he felt oddly accepted by them already, something that he was really grateful for. The whole family seemed really friendly and despite all the magical stuff, they had the kind of down to earth personality that reminded him of his mom.

At the thought of his mom, he frowned. Everything had happened so quickly, he'd just agreed to join some weird magic school without even thinking that his mom expected him back in a few months. He looked around for a fountain, thinking of sending her an Iris Message but then remembered that no one here knew he was a demigod.

 _That was going to complicate things._

He wasn't really sure he wanted to tell them about that part of his life though. Things were already weird enough and bringing the whole world of Greek Mythology into it would just make it crazier. He was tempted to tell Harry, though he decided to wait until the time was right. Plus, he needed to have some words with that Dumbledore guy. He had a lot more questions now that the shock of the whole wizards and magic was wearing off.

He was broken from his thoughts when he felt something hard in his pocket, much bigger than Riptide. He looked down and realized with a start that it was his wand. He pulled it out and held it in front of him, that odd feeling of connection to it returning again.

"How's it feel?" Harry asked, watching the way he stared at his wand.

"I dunno. It's weird."

"Weird?" Ron asked.

"Yeah," Percy kept his eyes on the wand. "I dunno, just like a connection. It's hard to explain."

Harry chuckled, "That's how you know it's your wand. It's not odd."

"What's it made of?" Hermione asked curiously.

"Palm and pegasus tail hair." Harry answered for him.

"What?" Ron asked giving him an odd look. "I've never heard of a wand made of either of those."

"Yeah, Ollivander said it was a really rare wand." Harry commented, still eyeing it with curiosity.

"Does it even work?" Ron asked, a smirk tugging at his lips.

Percy narrowed his eyes, finding himself surprisingly offended by his comment, "I dunno. You're the magic experts. This is new to me; it just started to glow when I picked it up. I don't know how to work this thing."

"Well, you're not allowed to perform magic outside of school until you're seventeen but there are a few small spells that don't count." Hermione offered. "Try the spell, _Lumos_." She pulled out her own wand and gave it a flick and muttered the incantation, the tip of her wand glowing brightly.

Percy stared at her wand for a long minute, the logical part of his mind was looking for the source of the light, though he found none. He looked down at his wand skeptically and then flicked it like Hermione had, " _Lumos_ ," he muttered.

Nothing happened.

"Looks like rubbish to me." Ron laughed, making Percy scowl at him.

"Shut up Ron," Hermione said annoyed. "You have to focus, Percy. When you speak the spell, just imagine you're channeling your words through the wand."

"I still think that Dumbledore guy made a mistake, I feel like I'd know if I was a wizard." Percy said shaking his head.

"Professor Dumbledore doesn't make mistakes," Harry said quickly, sounding very protective of the old wizard. "If he says you're a wizard, you're a wizard. Besides, if you weren't, you wouldn't have found a wand or been able to claim your vault at Gringotts."

"Right," Percy said tiredly. "Or, I'm hallucinating from the poison Petunia claimed was meatloaf."

Harry grimaced at the thought of that meatloaf then pushed the bad memory from his mind, "Try again. Listen to Hermione and focus when you speak."

Percy looked down at his wand again and focused on the word in his mind. He flicked it again, "Lumos!" He said more firmly.

The tip of his wand lit up, albeit not as brightly as Hermione's, making his eyes go wide.

"See," Hermione said shooting Ron a look. "If I remember right, Ron, you weren't exactly a natural your first year."

Percy stared mesmerized by the glowing tip of his wand. He felt a strange sensation run through him when he spoke the spell, like he could almost feel the magic being produced.

"This is kinda awesome." He grinned.

"To put it out, just use the spell, _Nox_." Hermione explained as the light at the end of her wand vanished. Percy did the same but failed the first time. He had to focus hard before he succeeded in turning the light off.

"Like anything, the more you practice, the easier it will become." Hermione added.

Percy smiled at her, "Thank you."

Hermione's face became a little red, something that made Harry want to laugh, though Ron noticed as well and didn't seem nearly as amused, even if it was obvious Percy had just been being polite.

"RONNNNNNNNALDDDD!" The voice of Mrs. Weasley seemed to echo through the house, reverberating through Ron's small room and making them all turn a little pale. The Weasley matriarch seemed to have a strange ability to be both terrifying and a sweetheart at the same time.

"Okay, tour's over. Let's go help mum before she sends Ginny or even worse, Percy, up to get us." Ron said getting up with a groan.

Despite having just met Percy Weasley, Percy could tell he wasn't really the kind of guy you wanted coming to give you any kind of order. He wasn't scary by any means, but he had that _do gooder_ aspect to him that made you want to punch him in his know-it-all face.

 _Not that Percy Jackson would ever do something like that..._

After helping the rest of the Weasley's set up a couple tables in the yard and then helping Mrs. Weasley set the table with all the food and utensils, Percy found himself sitting between Harry and Hermione, The table was set up in the back yard under the comfortable late afternoon sun. Percy almost laughed at the ridiculousness of his life as he watched objects flying back and forth between the elder Weasley brothers.

 _This had not been the escape from the supernatural aspect of his life that his mom had had in mind._

Seeing the Weasley home from the outside just boggled his mind further. The place looked like a chicken coop that had had several homemade additions added on over the years. Percy counted five different chimneys and the place had to be have been held together with magic, otherwise the slightly slanted additions would surely have collapsed. But despite it's odd appearance, Percy could only smile at how strangely at ease he felt there.

Then there was the food.

Percy hadn't had any ambrosia and nectar in the past few weeks, though he had packed some just in case, but Mrs. Weasley's cooking had to have used some in the ingredients. It was incredible. He wouldn't put it above his own mom's, but it was right up there. And after Aunt Petunia's meatloaf, well, this was a little slice of Elysium. Percy stuffed himself full of chicken-and-ham pie, boiled potatoes and salad. Then there were the pies and cakes. A month of this cooking and Percy was sure he'd be shopping for a new, plus sized, wardrobe.

As the meal winded down and people jostled for the last of the cakes, Percy looked down at the one on his plate, debating whether one more would pop the button on his jeans.

"You gonna eat that, mate?" One of the twins, Fred, he thought, asked with a mouth full of cake but envy in his eyes.

"Fred!" Mrs. Weasley scolded. "You've had plenty! Let the poor boy eat his cake!"

Percy fidgeted in his seat then smiled and cut the cake in half. He scooped up half under his fork, using his hand to steady it and offered it to Fred.

"Percy," Mrs. Weasley apologized. "You don't have to give it to him."

"Thank you, Mrs. Weasley." He said politely, "but honestly, if I eat one more of your amazing cakes, then Harry's going to need a wheelbarrow to get me to school."

She smiled, looking pleased by the compliment on her cooking prowess. Then she frowned as she watched Fred inhale the piece of cake in one large bite, barely seeming to chew before he swallowed it down.

She opened her mouth to chide him for it then her eyes widened a little. Fred mirrored her expression as he suddenly stood up from the table, knocking over his chair in the process. He clawed at his mouth looking panicked as his mouth opened and his tongue, already twice its normal size, forced its way out of his mouth.

"Uhahh! Ummhhahhhh!" He babbled, his words lost behind his oversized and growing tongue. He reached for his pocket but George grabbed his wand from him before he could use it, jumping away and howling with laughter. The entire table, minus Percy and Mrs. Weasley were laughing at Fred who was stumbling around, trying to find his twin and his wand and also trying to speak through his enormous and still growing tongue.

"What are you doing, Fred?!" Mrs. Weasley demanded. Even Mr. Weasley was laughing, though he was trying not to show it in front of his wife.

Finally Mr. Weasley got up and pulled out his wand. He pointed it at Fred and spoke a quiet incantation. A white light shot from his wand and hit Fred right in his engorged tongue. In a matter of seconds, his tongue shrunk back down to its normal size, his face now covered with a healthy amount of his own saliva.

As soon as he got his bearings, he pointed at Percy accusingly and all eyes turned to him.

"You sneaky little git!" Fred accused

Percy, who was staring wide eyed, completely baffled by what had just happened, "What? I didn't..." He didn't even know what to say.

"You slipped me a toffee!" Fred scowled.

Mrs. Weasley's eyes narrowed but not at Percy, instead sending an icy glare at Fred and then at George.

"What? I told you both to destroy those silly creations!"

"We did!" George protested but abandoned his attempt at denial when his mother's glare intensified. "Okay, maybe we gave one to Percy earlier." Then he turned to Percy with a slightly impressed look, "How did you know?"

Percy glanced at Mrs. Weasley, still confused before he felt embarrassed, "I'm so sorry. I just saw them laughing when they gave it to me earlier." He was nervous, not noticing the huge smiles the rest of the table had. "I thought it was just a joke candy, like dirt flavored or something."

Mrs. Weasley turned to the twins, George was grinning at Percy while Fred looked both annoyed and impressed at the same time.

"Serves you right! I told you two that I would have no more of your foolish candies or pranks in my house! Since you didn't listen before, then you can work of your listening skills when you clean up everything from dinner, by yourselves! With no magic!"

Fred and Geroge's mouths opened but they closed them after the look their mom gave them, resigning themselves to their punishment. Fred shot Percy a look, "It's on, now!"

Percy was too confused and embarrassed to even respond.

"Get to work. This mess will take awhile!" Mrs. Weasley snapped and the twins both scowled and started clearing the plates from the table. "And Percy, nothing to apologize for, my dear. I'm sorry my foolish sons tried to do that to you. They should know better!"

Percy frowned, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean mess up your dinner."

"Mess it up?" Charlie laughed. "Please mate, that was brilliant!"

The rest of the table, sans Fred and George, all quickly agreed.

"Mum," Ron asked after a minute. "What's Percy gonna do tomorrow? I mean," he looked at Percy apologetically, "during the World Cup?"

Percy raised an eyebrow, not sure what he was talking about.

"Actually," Mr. Weasley cut in. "I was about to mention that. I managed to get another ticket, thanks to Percy himself, actually."

"What?" Percy asked confused.

"Well," Mr. Weasley smiled. "Using some of the money you snuck Ginny, Ludo Bagman was able to procure an extra seat for you with the rest of us. So Percy, tomorrow morning, you'll be joining us for the Quidditch World Cup."

Percy was still confused but he smiled at the thought of going to the World Cup of anything, even a sport he didn't know anything about.

Mr. Weasley pulled the pouch from his pocket and tossed it to Percy, "Ginny here was so pleased with your nice gesture, she asked if I could use the money to find you a ticket as well."

Percy caught it and then smiled at the small girl who's freckled face turned a deep shade of red.

"Alright," Mrs. Weasley clapped her hands. "Why don't we let Fred and George get to work? Ron and Harry can help Percy get settled in and ready for tomorrow. And early to bed for all of you, you're leaving in the middle of the night."

 **A.N: It's a little short, I had planned on writing more but I've been battling the stomach flu since Friday and haven't had the energy to write anything, though I'm feeling better now. This seems like an okay place to end it anyway, although not much happened. Let me know what you thought, I'm trying to portray Percy as best I can but it's hard throwing him into this new world. I'll find it soon enough and of course, he won't be RR Percy, he'll be the Percy I write.. Which is same as RR's, minus the sand in his vagina and PG rating.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Ch. 7**

Percy walked in a haze. His eyes were only slits as he kept his eyes on the dark hoody that moved in front of him. It was easiest this way, looking past that would mean having to properly wake up and he had zero interest in doing that.

It was only a little time past four in the morning when he'd been shaken awake by Ron who looked completely miserable himself. Percy didn't mind getting up early but this was a bit much. By the time Harry and Ron had finished explaining quidditch to him, it was getting close to midnight when they went to bed, which meant he'd gotten a whopping four hours of sleep before they'd had to get up and leave the Weasley house.

He was even more devastated to learn they had to walk to wherever they were going.

 _Had the Fates no mercy?_

He could hear Ron beside him and was sure he'd heard him snore a couple times, dozing off while walking, a feat not even he could claim to have matched.

It took about forty five minutes before Mr. Weasley stopped their little misery march. They were at the foot of what at the moment looking at a ridiculously large hill.

"There we are!" Mr. Weasley said cheerily. "The portkey is somewhere at the top of Stoteshead Hill" He checked his pocket watch and seemed satisfied with what he saw. "Right on time. Let's move though, at five fifteen the portkey goes with or without us."

Percy was too sleepy to even properly wonder what a portkey was. At the moment, he could care less. It might have been the entrance to Medusa's lair for all he knew but the idea of trying to comprehend some new magical thing was just way too much to process.

The trek up the hill was brutal, and each breath Percy took was sharp, the cold air stinging his lungs with each inhale. He felt a little embarrassed at how difficult he found the hike though it was mostly the sleepiness that made it difficult though. Percy seemed to handle it better than the others, even the chipper Mr. Weasley, as apparently wizardry didn't involve a lot of physical effort; none of the Weasleys or Harry seemed to have to be in all that good of shape. Hermione was better than the rest and managed to keep up with him as he climbed the slope. The incline did help to wake him up, though it certainly didn't make his mood any better.

Hermione stumbled after stepping into a small hidden rabbit hole and would have fallen on her face if Percy hadn't managed to catch her arm at the last minute. She stumbled into him cursing before looking up and finding their faces mere inches apart.

"Sorry," she blushed in embarassment, though it was mostly hidden by the darkness.

"No problem," he smiled, "those holes are all over the place."

"Yea... Yeah." She stuttered, stepping away from him after balancing herself.

Percy and Hermione waited at the summit of the hill as the rest of their group came huffing and puffing after them.

"Bloody hell, Dad." Ron whined. "Are you sure we're far enough off the grid?"

"Couldn't be having muggles coming across the portkey, now could we? Hard enough keeping the location of the World Cup secure without muggles popping in from accidental portkey journeys."

"Alright, I'll bite," Percy said now that he was properly awake. "What's a portkey?"

"Another way of travel," Hermione answered quickly. "It'a an object used to transport people, or several people. It's faster than brooms and safer than apparating."

"Exactly," Mr. Weasley added on, "now we just need to find it. The portkey will be something small that looks like rubbish or something a muggle wouldn't want to touch. Go on, everyone start looking, we've only got ten minutes before our scheduled time."

Before they could start their search, a shout rang out through the still air.

"Oy! Arthur!" A older man called over towards them.

Mr. Weasley smiled as the older man and a young teen, right around Percy's age, made their way towards them.

"Amos!" Mr. Weasley said cheerfully, shaking the hand of the ruddy faced older gentleman. He had a scrubby brown beard and held a a moldy looking old brown boot in his hand.

"We've got it here, Arthur." Amos said happily.

"This is Amos Diggory, everyone" Mr. Weasley introduced. "He works for the Ministry in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. And I'm sure you know his son, Cedric."

Percy eyed the teenage boy beside the man. He looked around sixteen or seventeen and appeared either shy or tired, Percy deciding it was probably the latter.

"He's captain of the Hufflepuff quidditch team," Harry whispered beside Percy, though Percy was still struggling with the concept of quidditch and decided against even asking what a Hufflepuff was.

"Hi," Cedric said quietly. Most of their group said hi back, with the exception of Fred and George who simply nodded stiffly, looking far less pleased than the rest at the sight of the new kid.

"Yes," Mr. Weasley nodded and gestured to his large brood. "You know my kids, Ron, Fred and George. And these," he gestured to Hermione and Harry, "are my son Ron's friends, Hermione and Harry."

Mr. Diggory gave Hermione a polite nod then turned to Harry, his expression becoming a mixture of surprise and excitement.

"Yes," he replied. "Harry Potter. Cedric has told me about you. Quite the quidditch player yourself, I hear. Though Ced tells me he got the best of you last year. Quite the seeker himself, if I do say so, myself."

Cedric shot his father a looked of annoyed embarrassment, "Got lucky," he muttered quietly.

"Bloody right, you did." Both Fred and George grumbled, though no one paid them any mind.

"Lucky?" Mr. Diggory said clearly not in agreement. "Modest, my boy is. Bloody good seeker, and I'm sure Harry'd agree! Best seeker won that day. You'd agree with that, wouldn't ya Harry?"

"Uh," Harry nodded awkwardly. "Yeah, definitely."

Mr. Weasley seemed to pick up on the uncomfortableness Amos' boasting was creating and gestured to Percy.

"And this," he cut in. "Is Percy Jackson. He's from the States and will be attending Hogwarts this year."

Mr. Diggory finally broke his gaze from Harry and seemed to notice Percy for the first time.

"America, you say?" He asked intrigued. "A transfer from Ilvermorny?

Percy looked to Mr. Weasley, unsure what he was talking about.

"Actually," Mr. Weasley answered for him. "He's a bit of a late bloomer, I guess you could say. Wasn't found until he came to London. Dumbledore himself came to visit Percy here just a couple days ago. He's actually a distant cousin of Harry, or so I've been told."

"Dumbledore you say?" Amos' interest grew. "You're not a decendent of Zacharias Jackson, are you?"

Before Percy could answer, Mr. Weasley cut in quickly, "I don't that's at all relevant, Amos." His tone was noticeably colder and had an edge to it that almost seemed warning. Mr. Diggory noticed and waved it off.

"Of course not," he agreed. "Simple curiosity, my old friend. My apologies, I meant no offense."

"Right," Arthur checked his pocket watch again, "blimey, it's almost time. Come on everyone, gather up, we've got thirty seconds."

Everyone quickly came together, reaching out and touching the moldy old boot. Mr. Weasley waved Percy towards him, "Come along, Percy. Just place your finger on the portkey."

Percy did as he was told but his mind was focused on what'd just happened. The way Amos had said the name Zacharias Jackson had very clearly not been with fondness. Then Mr. Weasley's response just made it even more confusing. It was almost like he was making an effort to end the talk before Amos said anything else. It made Percy's stomach turn a little, now both curious and nervous to hear anything else.

His thoughts ended when he was suddenly ripped off his feet. His eyes instinctively closed as he felt like he was on the end of a giant's lasso, whipping around at super sonic speeds. Before he'd managed to collect his thoughts, he hit the ground hard, rolling a few times before stopping on his stomach. Just as he lifted his head, he felt something crash down on top of him.

"Bloody hell," Harry groaned from atop him, clearly just as dazed as he was.

He pushed himself up, forcing Harry to roll off and grunt as he flopped onto his back. Percy turned in time to see Mr. Weasley, Fred and George, Mr. Diggory and Cedric all land gracefully on the ground a few feet away. He heard Ron grumbling a few feet away then saw Hermione trying to brush herself off quickly, hiding the evidence of her ungraceful landing.

"I'm starting to really hate the way you wizards travel," Percy muttered as he pulled himself to his feet. He offered his hand to Harry who took it gratefully.

"My first time using a portkey too." Harry admitted, brushing the dirt from his jeans and sweatshirt.

"Almost as fun as that floo travel thing you do," Percy said shaking his head.

Two odd looking men walked towards the group, one of them holding a clipboard in his hand. Percy tilted his head to the side, trying to fully comprehend their outfits.

"They're trying to look like muggles," Harry whispered with obvious amusement when he noticed Percy's look.

One of the men wore a tweed suit with thigh length galoshes, making him look like he was heading for a business meeting in the middle of a river. The man held a pocket watch in his hand, one eye glued to the time as if he were anxiously waiting for something.

The other man wore a kilt with a bright yellow poncho. He held the clipboard and approached Mr. Weasley.

"Morning Basel," Mr. Weasley said politely, picking up the boot and handing it to the wizard. The man threw it into a large box behind him that was filled with an assortment of what looked like garbage but what Percy assumed were other used portkeys. He saw an old newpaper, a deflated soccer ball and an empty can of cola.

"Hello there, Arthur," said Basel tiredly."Not on duty, eh? It's alright for some but we've been here all night. You better get out of the way, we've got a big party coming in from the Black Forest in three minutes. Hang on, I'll find your campsite."

The middle aged wizard flipped through a few pages of his clipboard, "Weasley... Weasley... Ah, about a quarters of a mile walk over there," he pointed to his left, "first field you come to, site manager is called Mr. Roberts." The man turned to Amos who was beside Mr. Weasley, "Diggory, second field. Ask for Mr. Payne."

"Thanks, Basel," Mr. Weasley said before beckoning their small brood to follow him. They set off in the direction they'd been pointed in, though it was tough to see where they were headed through the thick morning mist.

Percy got a sobering feeling of deja vu as his mind flashed back to his entry into the Garden of the Hesperides with Thalia, Grover and Zoe just a few years earlier. He frowned as the events of that quest flooded back into his mind, the sadness of watching Zoe die in front of him and the relief of saving Annabeth reopening old wounds he wished would just go away.

After twenty minutes of walking, a small stone cottage with an open metal gate came into view. Behind it, barely visible through the mist, Percy saw the shapes of what had to be hundreds of tents rising up the gentle slope of a large field.

Mr. Weasley said his goodbyes to the Diggorys and made his way to the cottage door. Standing in the doorway was a meager looking elderly man.

"Morning," Mr. Weasley said pleasantly as he approached the man.

"Morning," the man said back, this one looking much more normally dressed in a pair of dirty blue jeans and a flannel coat.

"You wouldn't be Mr. Roberts, would you?" Mr. Weasley continued.

"Aye, I would." The man, Mr. Roberts, nodded back. "And who are you?"

"Weasley, two tents, booked a couple of days ago." Mr. Weasley replied.

"Aye," Mr. Roberts turned to examine a list tacked to the door. "You've got the space just up to the right there. Just the one night?"

"Yes," Mr. Weasley said back, "just the one."

"You'll be paying now, then?" Mr. Roberts asked.

"Uh, right, certainly." Mr. Weasley answered before turning around and beckoning Percy and Harry over to him.

"Help me, boys." He pulled a rolled of paper money from his pocket, starting to pull the bills apart. "This is a ten, right?"

Percy shrugged his shoulders, not particularly familiar with British currency.

"Yes, I see the little number." Arthur continued. "And this is a, five?"

"A twenty," Harry corrected, trying to keep his voice low after noticing the muggle site manager keenly trying to hear their conversation. "How much do you need?"

"Seventy five."

Harry plucked a few more bills and added it to the others in Mr. Weasley's hand.

"You foreign?" Mr. Roberts arched an eyebrow.

"Foreign?" Mr. Weasley asked confused.

"You're not the first who's had trouble paying me. I had a few try to pay me in gold coins the size of hubcaps. Never been this crowded, lots of prepays and reservations. Most times, people just show up."

"Yes," Mr. Weasley said uncomfortably. "Gold coins, you say?"

"Not just foreigners either," Mr. Roberts continued ignoring the question. "Weirdos. There's one bloke walking around in a kilt and a poncho!"

Before Mr. Weasley could respond, Percy jumped back when wizard appeared right behind the man and pointed his wand at Mr. Roberts.

 _"Obliviate!"_

Mr. Roberts got a dreamy, faraway look in his eyes, "Right, a camp map for you." He pulled out a folded up piece of paper which Mr. Weasley took and quickly walked away. The wizard who'd appeared out of thin air walked beside them.

"Needs a bloody memory charm ten times a day," The wizard said wearily. "Doesn't help Ludo Bagman's walking around talking about bludgers and beaters at the top of his voice." Without waiting for a response, the man vanished with a quiet popping noise.

"Right now," Mr. Weasley smiled. "Here we are. The tent on the right is for Hermione and Ginny when she arrives. We're on the left boys." He pulled open the flap and stepped inside. The others followed. When Percy stepped through, he had to do a double take.

The inside of the tent had to have been bigger than the cabin Mr. Roberts lived in. Somehow, their small tent was big enough on the inside that it could have housed a group of twenty people or so. It was complete with a bathroom and kitchen, with bunkbeds set up in a small row along the side of the room.

Percy took a step backwards, out of the tent, then stepped back in.

"So," he said shaking his head. "It's smaller on the outside."

"Enchanted," Hermione explained, though that really didn't explain much to him. He nodded, as if he actually understood it.

"Well," Mr. Weasley clapped his hands. "Ron, why don't you and your friends go find the tap. We're going to need water if we're going to cook dinner."

Ron gave his father a strange look, "You want us to fetch water? Can't you just..."

"We're camping!" His father exclaimed excitedly. "No magic. We're going to do it like the muggles do!"

Ron rolled his eyes and turned around, trudging out of the tent. Percy, Harry and Hermione followed behind him.

"How are we supposed to find the well?" Ron grumbled.

"It's over there." Percy answered without thinking, pointing towards the far side of the clearing. All three turned to look at him, their expressions showing their confusion.

"What?"

"How do you know that?" Hermione gave him a quizzical look.

"Oh," Percy said quickly, mentally cursing himself for his stupidity. How was he supposed to tell them he knew that? He couldn't exactly say he could sense the deep water well through his Poseidon powers.

"I, uh, saw people heading their with pitchers when we walked in. Maybe I'm wrong though."

Harry and Ron both took his explanation without a second thought but Hermione continued her quizzical look. It wasn't until Percy spread his hands to silently ask what she was looking at that she finally looked away, following after Ron and Harry in the direction they'd pointed.

As they walked through the rows of tents, people seemed to be waking, reminding Percy that it was still couldn't be much past six in the morning. He found himself a little mesmerized as they passed people. Small children were running around, all dressed oddly, in what he could only guess was normal witch and wizard attire. He saw a pair of young girls sitting on miniature broomsticks that hovered just high enough so their toes dragged across the ground.

An older man breezed past them, his eyes on the two young girls, muttering to himself angrily.

 _"In broad daylight! Parents having a lay in, I suppose!"_

The man, apparently someone with authority, quickly got the girls off their broomsticks and sent them racing into their tents before he could properly scold them.

As they continued on, Percy caught bits and pieces of conversations in different languages as he realized many of these witches and wizards were foreign. The thought made him shake his head, unsure how the world of magic could be so widespread with the rest of the world oblivious.

They came up to a large group of tents that had large shamrocks emblazoned on the sides.

"The Irish," Ron said giddily. "I wonder where the Bulgarians are camped. Wouldn't want to see those two find each other before the match."

"The Bulgarians?" Percy asked.

"Yeah, the final is between Ireland and Bulgaria. Both fanbases are fanatics. Would probably turn into a full fledged riot if they started to get into it before the match."

Just as he finished his sentence, a boy around fourteen came running up to them.

"Guys! Hey!"

All four turned to see a boy with sandy colored hair and pale skin run up grinning.

Harry smiled at him, "Seamus."

 **A.N: Getting there. Filler chapter to get back into it. More to come this weekend.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Ch. 8**

It seemed like it'd been hours since Mr. Weasley had sent them to fetch water for cooking.

After running into Harry's friend Seamus and introducing him to Percy, which then required a brief explanation about Percy coming to Hogwarts in the coming year, they managed to get away only after promising to root for Ireland in the world cup final.

But after getting away from Seamus, another friend of Harry, Ron and Hermione passed them as they walked. This one, a tall, dark skinned guy named Dean, was equally as friendly as Seamus and maybe even more curious about Percy and his recent discovery by the wizarding world.

They managed to slip away from Dean a little quicker than they had Seamus but soon found themselves in yet another conversation, complete with introductions. This time, it was a girl named Lavender. She didn't ask as many questions as the boys had but did seem very intrigued by Percy.

 _Whether that was about his newly discovered magical abilities... Or something unrelated to magic or school altogether... Well, that remained to be seen._

Percy began to wonder if they were ever going to make it to the water tap. They met a handful more of Harry's classmates and he was introduced to more people than he could remember.

Thankfully, Harry and Hermione did most of the talking for him, especially when he was asked how he'd managed to go sixteen years without knowing he had magical abilities. He definitely owed both of them for that.

There was one person they ran into that Percy had no problems putting a face to though. While they were in line for the tap, they ended up behind a very cute asian girl. Though Percy found her quite attractive himself, it was Harry's reaction that made the brief conversation one he'd not be forgetting anytime soon.

Cho Chang had been her name. And the effect she'd had on Harry was the funniest thing he'd seen all day.

Percy wasn't sure what Harry's heart was pumping through his body in those few minutes because he was pretty sure his entire supply of blood went to his face as they awkwardly made small talk while Ron elbowed Percy and they both tried not to laugh at Harry's spluttering words. Even Hermione struggled to keep a straight face watching Harry's cringeworthy attempts at conversation.

Cho's turn at the water tap was a bit of a godsend for Harry as that was not the impression he must have been wanting to make. Once she filled her pitcher and said goodbye to all them, Percy and Ron finally allowed themselves to laugh. Harry turned to them, trying for a look of confusion, though he knew why they were laughing.

Percy patted him on the back and stepped up to get their water.

"Smooth, Harry. Really smooth, man." He said blatantly enjoying Harry's obvious suffering.

Harry didn't respond to his teasing, instead opting to glare at the ground under his feet.

Percy handed the water to Ron and threw his arm over Harry's shoulder as they started walking back to their tent.

"Dude, I'm just messing with you. It wasn't that bad."

Harry gave him a deadpan look in response, "It's not that easy. I mean, maybe it is for you but I don't have much experience talking to girls."

"Hey!" Hermione protested.

Harry rolled his eyes, "You don't count." He said then caught himself when Hermione's expression turned offended. "I mean, you're my best friend. I mean... I meant..."

Her lips quirked a little showing her amusement at his spluttering explanation.

"I know what you mean, Harry. It's fine."

"And," Percy added. "Not sure why you think I'd have done any better. Well, no, actually I would have." He laughed, "but I don't have much experience with all that either. I'm just picking on you, don't worry about it."

Harry didn't look convinced but didn't argue as they continued to walk back through the maze of tents. As they came up to theirs, they saw a burley looking man in robes seemingly having an enthusiastic conversation with Mr. Weasley and the twins as he waved his arms excitedly and roared with laughter at something he'd said.

"Ah, yes," Mr. Weasley cut the man off when he noticed them approach. "I was beginning to think you four got lost." He took the water from Ron and then gestured to the big excited guy.

"Ludo, this is my other son, Ron. And these are his friends, Harry, Hermione and Percy."

The guy looked like he was an NFL linebacker who'd let himself go after retiring. He had sandy blonde hair with a few grey streaks and bright blue eyes. He was a bit overweight but looked like he still had a good amount of muscle underneath the beer belly and bit of flab covering his body.

"Everyone, this is Ludo Bagman. He is Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports and is responsible for putting all of this together." Mr. Weasley explained.

"And quite the bloody headache it's been," Ludo Bagman sighed before smiling, "but worth every bit of it. The World Cup, right here in our backyard! It'll be a bloody great match!"

"Ludo played for the English National Team in his playing days," Mr. Weasley continued. "And was probably the best Beater the Wimbourne Wasps have ever had."

Mr. Bagman waved his hand like he was embarrassed but his grin made it clear he very much enjoyed the praise of his heydays.

"So, what do you say, Arthur? Fancy a wager on the match?" Ludo asked hopefully. "I've been taking wagers all day. Most money's on the Bulgarians but I'll give you good odds on the Irish if you wanna take the underdog."

Mr. Weasley looked uncomfortable for a minute then fished a few coins out of his pocket.

"Alright, a galleon on Ireland to win."

"A galleon?" Ludo sounded disappointed but he recovered quickly and smiled as he pulled out a pad of paper and quill and wrote down the wager. "Very well, very well." He looked at the others, "Any other takers?"

"They're a bit young to be gambling," Mr. Weasley protested. "Molly really wouldn't..."

"We'll bet thirty seven galleons and fifteen sickles," Fred cut his father off as he and George pooled their money together quickly. "That Ireland wins but Victor Krum gets the snitch!"

Ludo grinned, ignoring the disapproving look from Mr. Weasley.

Percy reached into his pocket and pulled out a handful of coins. He looked at Harry, "How much is this?"

"About thirty galleons," he said quickly. "But Percy..."

"I'll add thirty galleons to their bet." Percy announced, watching as Ludo's grin grew and threatened to split his face.

"Yes! Yes! Very good! Very good, boys!" Ludo beamed.

"Boys," Mr. Weasley said disapprovingly. "I don't want you betting, that's all your savings." He said to the twins.

"Don't be a spoil sport, Arthur! They're old enough to know what they want." Ludo said still sounding excited. He quickly wrote down Fred and George's names in his notepad. Then he looked at Percy, "And you are?"

"Percy Jackson," he replied. "But you can just add my wager into theirs."

"Alright! Very good!" Ludo beamed. "So you boys think Ireland will win but Krum will get the snitch? Not a chance, boys. Not a chance. But I'll give you goods odds." He wrote down their bets on his notepad and then ripped off the bottom half, handing it to Fred who tucked it into his front pocket.

"Cheers, boys! Gonna be a bloody good match!"

With that, Ludo Bagman bounded off towards another group of tents to fish for more wagers.

"Percy," Harry asked confused. "Why'd you bet? You barely even know quidditch."

Percy smiled, "I know. But I know people. Fred and George, they're the street smart kind of people who can talk a homeless bum out of his cardboard box. If they're throwing their money down, I like my odds. Besides," he shrugged. "it's fun. Now I have something to root for."

Fred and George came up and clapped a hand on each of Percy's shoulders, "Sharp fella, this one!" Fred grinned. "You lot'd be wise to listen to him." George added.

Mr. Weasley could only look on helplessly before sighing and grabbing up the pitcher of water.

"Come on," he said wearily. "I'll cook us some breakfast."

 **-X-**

When Mr. Weasley said he'd cook them breakfast, he apparently hadn't given much consideration about how to do it.

For the life of him, he had no idea what he was doing. He refused to use magic and went through about fifteen matches before Hermione had taken them away from him, sending him on a trivial task while she, Harry and Percy started the fire and set to cooking breakfast.

 _Without magic, the Weasleys were simply helpless._

Percy smiled and used a cast iron rack to cook a dozens eggs over the fire. He was no chef by any stretch of the imagination, but spending the past four years running all over the United States and the mythological world on quests had made him a pretty mean cook by campfire. He fried up eggs while Harry cooked bacon and sausages between his eggs with Hermione overseeing both their efforts.

In the end, it wasn't Sally Jackson or Molly Weasley caliber, but Percy felt a bit of pride at the eggs, sausage and bacon they cooked up. There were no complaints from the Weasleys either as everyone ate their fills, settling down in the magically large tent and relaxing after eating.

Early in the afternoon, Bill, Charlie, Percy (Weasley), and Ginny found their way to the campsite, joining them for lunch before they all wandered the campgrounds and relaxed for the rest of the day. As dusk set in, the energy in the whole campground was palpable as voices grew louder and people seemed to be getting pretty fired up for the start of the match that night.

Percy walked beside Harry as they made their way through the woods. He had no idea what to expect. He wasn't even sure where they were heading, considering they were basically in the middle of rural, forested England. But green and red lanterns seemingly had popped up out of the earth and lined several paths all leading in the same direction.

Despite the growing darkness and dim lantern light guiding their paths, it was clear they were heading the right way. It sounded like thousands of people were all marching in the same direction, even if they couldn't see most of them. The feverish excitement coming from the masses was contagious and even Percy started to feel his adrenaline pump a little, even if he still wasn't quite sure why.

Every one of the Weasleys looked like a kid on Christmas laughing and joking as they walked through the woods for a good twenty minutes.

Then Percy saw it.

He froze in his spot, only to be pushed forward as someone ran into him from behind.

"Sorry," little Ginny Weasley said embarrassed, her freckled face turning pink.

"My fault, Ginny." Percy smiled. "I got distracted." He looked back at the stadium, still awestruck at how something this huge could be sitting in the middle of nowhere.

It had to have been the biggest stadium he'd ever seen. He'd seen Yankee Stadium and Madison Square Garden but they looked like high school football fields in comparison. Golden walls lined the outside and despite only being able to see a portion of it, he guessed they could fit ten Yankee Stadiums inside this architectural masterpiece.

"Seats a hundred thousand," Mr. Weasley said in front of him. "Took a ministry task force of five hundred to put this together. The muggle repelling charms have made every muggle who came within a mile of this place suddenly remember they left something at home." He sounded proud of the work the ministry had done on the place and Percy couldn't blame him. Hiding something like this must have been near impossible and yet, there it was, apparently unknown to the non-magical world.

As they made their way closer to the stadium, Percy noticed Harry stiffen beside him and stop abruptly as someone bumped his shoulder as they cut in front.

The pure white hair was all Percy needed to see as the sneering face of Draco Malfoy turned and glared at them both.

"Surprised you lot could even afford tickets," Draco said mockingly as he scanned from Percy and Harry to Ron and Ginny, catching the attention of their whole group.

Standing beside him was a man with identical white hair and the same arrogant look that Draco seemed to favor.

"Arthur," the man said curtly. "Seems your brood grows every time I see you. The ministry will have to get you fixed if you keep popping out redheads at this rate."

Though it might have been a funny joke from others, the way the man said it wasn't at all humorous. It was rude and insulting, which seemed to be exactly what he was going for.

"Lucius," Mr. Weasley said back stiffly, clearly not happy to have run into him. Despite the joyous mood only seconds earlier, a general sense of unease and agitation had set upon the whole Weasley family. This guy, who Percy assumed was Draco's father, seemed to make even Mr. Weasley uncomfortable.

"Guess you'll be heading for the nosebleeds," Draco laughed to Ron, who simply looked down looking both embarrassed and angry. "We're guests of the Minister of Magic himself!" He boasted.

Percy saw Harry clench his fists but even he seemed unable or unwilling to respond to the cruel taunt.

 _Fortunately though, Percy had no problem responding to the little prick._

"Dude, who does that?" Percy laughed, though no one joined him. "I mean, seriously. Did you just see us talking and laughing and feel like you needed to come over and ruin everyones' good moods by reminding everyone how much of a little prick you are?"

Draco's sneer lost its bluster when Percy spoke, clearly remembering the events at the bookstore in Diagon Alley.

His father was not intimidated Percy. Though he seemed surprised, staring at Percy like he was trying to figure out if someone had really just dared to speak to his son like that right in front of him.

"And who," he shot a look at Arthur. "Is this insolent little addition to your clan?"

"Percy," Percy answered for him. "Percy Jackson. And yes, spot on observation; insolence is one of my many talents."

Lucius turned to his son, "This is the boy who assaulted you at Flourish and Botts?"

Draco simply nodded and glared at Percy, a small look of smugness returning to his face as he waited for his father to deal with Percy.

"Assaulted?" Percy asked incredulously. "Sure, if pointing out someone being an ass is assault, then I'm guilty as charged, I guess."

Lucius Malfoy narrowed his eyes, "You may be new to the magical world but you'd do well to learn your place and some manners, boy."

Percy glanced around, finding Mr. Weasley looking away while most of his children just scowled but bit their tongues. He didn't understand why everyone seemed afraid to stand up to this guy and his kid. It made him mad though. He hated people who tried to put others down just because they could.

Percy clenched his fists, struggling to control his anger. Then he let out a deep breath and shrugged, "Sorry sir, must be the lack of sleep. I guess I wasn't thinking clearly."

Percy rubbed his eyes as if to show how tired he was.

Then pulled his fingers away with the exception of his two middle ones, which continued to rub his eyes like he was trying to work the weariness from them.

Lucius' seemed pleased at his response, right up until he noticed Percy's scarcely veiled hand gesture and in an instant, his wand was out, face red with anger.

"You dare..." He stopped when Mr. Weasley, Charlie and Bill all pulled out their own wands and stepped towards Percy protectively.

"I would think carefully about your next move, mate! Attacking a kid in the middle of the World Cup will not end well for you!" Bill said glaring daggers at the older man.

Lucius eyed the three wands then slowly lowered his own. The look he gave Percy could have turned fire to ice.

"You will regret this insult, boy!" He hissed. "I won't soon forget it!."

Despite the warning look he saw Mr. Weasley giving him out of the corner of his eye, Percy couldn't help himself. This guy was the kind of person he simply loathed.

"I'm sure you won't but just to be sure, here, take this." Percy said reaching into his pocket.

Lucius stared at Percy, waiting to see what he had, his expression a mixture of anger and natural curiosity.

Percy pulled his hand from his pocket and held it out before turning it and flipping the white haired wizard the bird one more time.

"Being insulted is never fun but this should help lift your spirits. It's real nice, I got it a Target."

Lucius Malfoy's face turned an ugly shade of red but before he could even make a move, Percy was surrounded by three armed and skilled wizards. Never one to fight unless he was sure he could win, Lucius Malfoy settled for an ugly sneer.

"Watch your..."

"My back," Percy cut him off. "Yeah, thanks, I heard you the first time."

Lucius Malfoy shot Arthur a harsh look then whirled around, grabbing Draco by the arm and basically dragging him away from Percy and the Weasley clan.

For a long minute, no one spoke and Percy worried he'd gone too far.

"I don't know about the rest of you lot," Charlie said finally. "But I don't even need to watch the match now because that right there was worth more than the price of the ticket."

The ice broken, everyone laughed, loudly. The only person, (other than Percy Weasley, who seemed unable to have fun), that didn't seem happy was Mr. Weasley. His expression was more somber, like he'd just been given bad news. Once everyone had had a chance to laugh and pat Percy on the back, they started walking towards the stadium again and Mr. Weasley slowed his pace until he was walking right beside Percy.

"Percy," Mr. Weasley said quietly so his words wouldn't be overheard as they continued walking towards the stadium, "That was not wise. The Malfoys are a powerful family in the wizarding community."

Percy frowned as he felt guilty for doing that Mr. Weasley obviously didn't approve of. The last thing he wanted was to upset Arthur, who'd taken him in without a second thought.

"I'm sorry, sir." Percy replied sincerely. "That guy was just such a..." he stopped before finishing and shook his head, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that. I've just had people like that around me most of my life and it just makes me so mad."

Though Arthur had no idea, Percy's thoughts drifted to the gods the way they used their power to manipulate and use heroes and mortals.

Arthur seemed to understand the sentiment and patted Percy on the shoulder, "Yes, well, I think we all want to tell the Malfoys and others like them off like you did. But they have a lot of sway within our community. I just don't want you to get a target on your back before you even get to Hogwarts."

Percy nodding in understanding, "I understand, sir."

Mr. Weasley gave him a reassuring smile that turned a little mischievous, "Bloody hell, though, can't say I didn't love watching the look on his face when Lucius heard what people have said behind his back for years."

Percy felt a little relieved hearing Mr. Weasley say how much he enjoyed it.

"Come on, Percy." Mr. Weasley nodded ahead of them as they approached the stadium. "You been deprived of the enjoyment of quidditch for far too long. It's time you see how sports are played in the magical world."

 **Line Break**

Percy's face actually hurt.

That was because for the past several hours, he'd been grinning, laughing and cheering as he watched Ireland beat the Bulgarians in what he could only describe as the most incredible and exciting sport he'd ever seen. While it took a while to understand it and he still wasn't sure about everything, quidditch never failed to provide high energy entertainment and excitement.

 _And to top off everything, that Krum guy had caught the snitch which meant he and the twins had won their bet._

Despite that it had to almost be morning, Ron was still bouncing around excitedly talking about the match. He, Harry, Hermione and Percy walked together through the crowds across the campsite. Fred and George had run off to collect from Ludo while Mr. Weasley and the others stopped to talk with another wizarding family, telling them to go on ahead to the tents.

"Bloody hell!" Ron exclaimed. "Did you see Krum? That guy is brilliant!"

Harry was agreeing with him while Hermione just rolled her eyes. Percy felt the desire to do the same, though he resisted. Ron had been gushing about Krum for hours and Hermione had apparently reached her limit.

"Then," Ron said excitedly, "that keeper for the Irish..."

Ron's words were cut off when a series of screams rang out from somewhere behind them.

They all spun around to see dozens of people, men, women and children fleeing past them. Ron and Harry got knocked back by the panicked mass of people. Percy tried to keep track of them but everything happened so quick, he lost sight of both within seconds.

He turned as a younger man ran right into Hermione, knocking her to the ground. She could only turtle as people charged past her. She was kicked and trampled on by the hysterical stampede of people.

Percy ran towards her and was slammed into by another wizard. The man was pretty thin and seemed to get the worst of the collision.

An explosion rang out from somewhere deep in the crowd followed by more screams. Percy could see fire and smoke a short ways away.

He reached for Hermione but the thin wizard had fallen on top of her and was flailing around in terror. Percy grabbed him by the back of his robes and yanked him to his feet. He tried to struggle and caught Percy with an elbow in the jaw causing him to break free only to step on Hermione's leg again.

Percy snapped a little. He knew the guy was just scared but he was hurting Hermione in his panic.

"Dude, get off her!" He grabbed the guy by the robes again and pulled back hard, throwing the guy backwards and sending him crashing to the ground a few feet away. He didn't even look at Percy as he jumped back up and ran past them.

Percy reached down before another idiot stepped on her and scooped Hermione up in his arms. Her eyes snapped open and he could see the fear in them. When she saw it was him, she seemed to calm a little.

"You okay?" He asked loudly, trying to be heard over the chaos.

She could only nod weakly.

He set her down on her feet. Her eyes were drawn to something behind them before she turned and hid behind Percy as something else ran into him.

He was starting to really get pissed off at that point. He grabbed Hermione's hand to make sure they didn't get separated and started to moving away from the sound of the commotion. He had to give more than a few people hard forearms to keep them from crashing into them.

A ball of fire shot past them and hit a tent only a few feet away, sending it up in flames.

Percy spun around, pulling Hermione behind him as he saw a trio of masked people in black robes shooting balls of fire, and different colored jets of light from wands.

Someone crashed between him and Hermione, forcing him to lose hold of her hand. She was herded a few feet away, right in the path of one of the masked men. He seemed to notice her and raised his wand.

Percy forced his way through the stampede of fleeing people and jumped right in front of her. A red light erupted from the wand and shot right at him. He closed his eyes and raised his arm instinctively.

He felt a hard thud then a muffled grunt. His eyes opened to find his shield, the one Tyson had made and then repaired for him, had somehow summoned itself. He looked to find the attacking wizard on his back with a small bit of smoke rising from his robes.

Hermione stared in utter shock at Percy who had jumped in front of her to take the blow only to somehow conjure some ancient looking shield that rebounded the spell onto their attacker.

Unfortunately, they weren't the only ones who were looking at the scene in shock. The other two masked men stared at Percy for a minute then seemed to regain their senses and stalked towards them.

The fleeing people were mostly gone at this point, leaving nothing standing between Hermione and Percy and what she recognized from her research as Death Eaters.

"Percy, run!" She whispered even though she knew they'd never make it.

"Stay behind me." He said with incredible calmness. "We'll be fine. I won't let them hurt you."

One of the Death Eaters fired a spell and with speed that she didn't understand, Percy stepped forward and raised his shield, deflecting the spell and sending careening towards the other Death Eater, who had to jump aside to avoid it.

"What is this?" The first one growled. "Who is this brat?"

Percy reached behind him with his free hand and grabbed the front of Hermione's shirt. He slowly stalked back to their right, making sure she stayed right behind him while watching the two masked men over the top of his shield.

"Who cares? Kill him!" The second spat.

 _"Avada Kedavra!_ "

A green light shot from the wand right at Percy. This time he spun around, pulling Hermione with him but managing to keep her behind him as he did by pulling her to the side, letting go and then grabbing hold of her shirt again as the spell flew past them.

"Get down!" Percy said quickly as another spell flew at them. He raised his shield and sent it flying into the trees. He pushed Hermione back and slid his leg behind hers while still keeping his eyes on their attackers. She would have fallen hard but he held her shirt as she fell, softening the landing.

Too scared to do anything else, she did as he asked and laid down flat on the ground, her eyes on the two death eaters as they slowly stalked towards Percy.

Once they were less than fifteen feet away, they attacked again, firing spells back to back, and sending beams of different lights at Percy. She had trouble believing what she saw. He moved like he'd been doing it his whole life, ducking some while deflecting others. He didn't let himself he too far away from her and always kept himself between her and the Death Eaters.

She reached into her pocket for her wand, knowing Percy couldn't keep this up. As she pulled it out the sounds of battle rang out from somewhere behind the Death Eaters.

Both turned and cursed.

"The Aurors!" One snarled at the other. They didn't even look at Percy as one ran to their fallen companion and grabbed hold of his robes before both shot into the air in jets of black smoke.

Percy waited a few seconds, making sure they were gone before he turned to Hermione, who was slowly getting to her feet. His shield retracted back into a watch as he helped pull her up.

"What... How..." She couldn't find the right words. "How did you..." She gestured to his wrist.

"Oh," he said looking at the watch. "I found it in my vault. I thought it was a watch. But when they fired that red spell thing at us, it just popped out." He shook his head. "Pretty luck, huh?"

She just stared at him, trying to still comprehend what'd happened and how he seemed so calm. When she found her voice again, she looked at Percy in disbelief.

"You... You just jumped in front of me..." She felt strangely uncomfortable. "You... You could have... That was..."

He gave her a crooked little smile, "Oh, uh, you're welcome. No biggie."

Her jaw dropped a little, trying to believe that he'd just called it _no biggie_. Then she did something that surprised them both. She hugged him hard, burying her head in his chest, trying to express how grateful she was he'd been willing to sacrifice himself for her despite only knowing her for a couple days.

"Hey," he chuckled. "It's alright. I grew up in New York. Never had people firing magic spells at him but I did learn how to protect myself."

She detached herself from him, cheeks burning.

"Percy! Hermione!" The sound of Mr. Weasley's voice yelled to them. He looked like he'd been in a full blown panic but as he saw them unharmed, he looked like the world was lifted off his shoulders. He ran to them, "Thank God! I thought you'd been attacked! Ron and the others are already back at the Burrow. Charlie, Bill and Percy apparated everyone home. Come on, we need to get out of here!"

Percy nodded though he waited to see in Hermione was going to tell him what happened. She seemed to sense he didn't want to talk about it yet and just nodded as well as Mr. Weasley grabbed both of them by the wrists and vanished with a loud pop.

 **A.N: New chapter... A little action... Hoepfully you liked it. Let me know.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Ch. 9**

Percy didn't say much once they got back to the Burrow.

Despite the sun starting to rise, the house was buzzing with activity and raised voices. Everyone was trying to give their account about what they had seen after the World Cup. Mrs. Weasley looked like she'd aged a decade since the last time he saw her, though she did manage a relieved smile when he and Hermione had appeared in the back of the room with Mr. Weasley, the last unaccounted for members of their party.

Every one of the Weasley children seemed to trying to be heard at once, which only made their voices grow louder and make the conversation even less intelligible. From what Percy gathered in bits and pieces, none of them had seen any of the attackers themselves. They were mostly going off what they'd heard amongst the widespread panic following the end of the match.

Percy might have spoken up if he could have gotten a word in edgewise. But the more he listened, the more he wondered why everyone was so worked up. A handful of rogue wizards had attacked the crowd of people, at least as far as he knew, and that didn't seem like it should have been this big of a deal.

 _But to be fair, his opinion might have been a bit skewed after the second Titan War._

Mr. Weasley had vanished right after dropping him and Hermione off, heading straight to the Ministry to see if he could help, barely managing to tell his wife over the commotion before disappearing.

Percy expected Hermione to tell them what happened to them but like him, she was one of the few quiet ones in the house. She sat on the couch, a distant look on her face that he attributed to still being shaken up. He caught her eyes flashing to him but as soon as she'd seen him notice, she quickly looked away which made him frown.

The other and in reality main reason he kept quiet was that he really didn't want to have to explain his little fight with the creeps in masks. Telling that story would lead to a lot of questions and he wasn't sure he knew how to answer a lot of them, starting with his shield, something they'd all want to see and hear about. Although he'd told Hermione it was something he found in his vault, he wasn't sure it had been as much her accepting his explanation as being shaken from what'd happened and just agreeing with whatever came out of his mouth.

Percy really didn't want to try and pass that explanation off on Harry and the whole Weasley family, so he kept his mouth shut. Busting out a celestial bronze shield would be difficult to explain without having to tell them the truth about him. And while he wasn't against telling some people, he wasn't sure he was ready to tell the entire Weasley family.

He caught Hermione staring at him again but she still avoided his gaze, like she was suddenly scared or intimidated by him. He didn't like that thought as he had only done what seemed right. He didn't know her very well but she was a nice girl and one of Harry's best friends. Jumping in front of her had been an involuntary reaction, but not one he regretted.

Less than a half hour into the house wide debate, Mrs. Weasley finally put an end to the chaos. She had cooked up a small breakfast while they'd been talking and had obviously decided she'd heard enough.

"That's enough, boys." She made sure to catch the eyes of each one of her sons, along with Harry. "Your father will have news once he's back from the ministry. Until then, you're going to have a small breakfast and get some sleep! Most of you are off to Hogwarts tomorrow!"

Despite the previous fervor of the room, her words appeared to ring true to everyone as they all seemed to almost visibly deflate a little, allowing the weariness of being up for so long set in. One by one they went to the kitchen to get some food, eating it in almost silence. Percy didn't join them, his appetite pushed aside after his battle. It wasn't a new thing, the rush of adrenaline always sapped his hunger only to return with authority once he had a chance to fully unwind and rest.

He noticed Hermione didn't eat anything either. She disappeared upstairs before anyone finished eating and he got a nagging feeling that something was wrong. As people began to disappear to their bedrooms, he ended up with Ron and Harry as the last stragglers, waiting for Ron to finish his bisquit. Mrs. Weasley eyed them from the kitchen but held her tongue, for now.

"Hey," Ron said like he just had an epiphany. "What happened to you and Hermione? We lost you guys and you were the last ones back."

"Oh? You noticed that?" Percy said with a mock bitterness to his voice. "You guys left us behind. People were going crazy, I had to throw some freaked out guy off Hermione cuz he was too panicked to notice he was trampling her."

"Hey!" Ron protested, though he did look like he felt a little guilty. "Wasn't our fault! We were swept up by the crowd of crazy blokes! By the time we got away, we couldn't find either of you." He looked to Harry for confirmation.

"Sorry, Percy." Harry frowned. "Everything happened so fast, there was nothing we could do. We tried to look for you but when Charlie found us he said Mr. Weasley was getting you and we had to leave."

"Honestly, mate." Ron added. "We tried to keep looking but Charlie wasn't having it. People were going mental all around us."

"I'm glad you guys are okay." Harry added, hoping Percy would accept their explanation. Ron nodded his head in agreement.

Percy smiled a little, "I know you guys didn't leave us on purpose. We were fine, no worries."

Both Ron and Harry looked relieved. They might have said something else but Mrs. Weasley coughed quietly from the entrance of the kitchen, her expression said she was done waiting for them to go off to bed.

"Right, I'm spent anyway. Let's get some sleep before we leave for the school later." Ron said earning a small nod from his mother before she went back to cleaning up the breakfast she made. They climbed the steep winding stairs until they got to Ron's room. Within a couple minutes, Ron began snoring, obviously exhausted from the eventful past twenty four hours. Shortly afterword, Percy heard Harry's even breaths signaling he'd nodded off as well. As Percy laid there, listening to the sounds of their snores and breathing, he found himself replaying the events of his little battle in his head.

He couldn't help but smile as he thought about his shield, the shield Tyson had made him, popping out on its own to protect him from the spell. He had no idea how, but he knew Tyson had made the shield capable of activating itself to protect him.

The thought made him a little sad.

He missed Tyson.

He also missed him mom.

They hadn't spoken since he left John F. Kennedy Airport and he knew she'd be wondering why he hadn't called. Once he got to this magic school, he needed to find some privacy so he could Iris Message her. They had a lot to talk about. To start, he needed to know if she had any idea that she'd apparently descended from a somewhat well known magical family. And judging by what he'd seen in the exchange between Mr. Diggory and Mr. Weasley, he could guess there was at least something about his ancestors that he wasn't going to like.

No, he thought quickly. His mom would never have sent him to England if she knew what was waiting there. She was going to be just as stunned as he was. Then she was going to worry, probably tell him to come home.

He dreaded what would come next. Despite everything, the whole reason he came to England; he couldn't just walk away. He needed to stay. He had to. Despite only knowing him for less than a week, he already considered Harry family. And if that Dumbledore guy had been telling the truth, he was going to need Percy's help for something that Harry would face in the near future.

He could have laughed thinking about this being his escape from the craziness in his life. He'd run from his problems with the gods and stepped right into another world of crazy that he had no idea if he would be able to handle.

It didn't matter though. He'd been pulled in and despite everything he'd been through and all that he'd lost, he couldn't let himself walk away. Not if Harry would need him. Not if Ron and Hermione would need him.

Another thought came to mind, one that had been lurking in the back of his head for a while now.

He looked down at his hand, the one he'd held his shield in during the fight, and found the shallow but long scape he'd gotten when one of the spells jarred his arm, knocking the edge of the shield into his forearm.

He'd wondered about this for a while but had been hesitant to test it because he wasn't sure he wanted the answer.

 _The curse of Achilles was gone._

He hadn't let himself consider it because he didn't want to think about the cause. But now he could no longer avoid it.

 _Annabeth was dead._

She'd been the anchor to his mortality. But now his anchor was gone. He thought that would have meant he would die but it apparently it meant the magic was no longer bound to him. She'd pulled him out of that river and tethered him to his mortal life. Now he realized she'd also been the one binding the curse to his mortal body.

He didn't care that he'd lost his invulnerability. He only cared about the reason he lost it. He felt the memories of what had happened on Olympus come back to him and he squeezed his eyes shut, trying to push the sadness and loss they gave him.

Somewhere in his battle with his brain to push the difficult memories away, his body succumbed to his weariness as he drifted off to sleep, plagued with dreams of the past and dreams of the future that had been ripped away from him.

 **Line Break**

The next day seemed to pass in the blink of an eye.

Percy barely had time to think as he was awoken some time after noon. Once he, Harry and Ron were up, they were fed a quick breakfast, Mrs. Weasley called them into the living room where a handful of older looking trunks were sitting in different places in the room.

"Right," Mrs. Weasley smiled, though she was trying to hurry them all along. Percy, Harry, Ron and Hermione all waited as Mrs. Weasley seemed to be trying to remember something. She glanced at one of the trunks and nodded like it had answered a question for her.

"Hermione, this is yours." She said gesturing to the chest. Then she pointed to the one next to it, "And this one is yours, Ron. Harry's is in the chair and Percy's is the one in front of the fireplace."

Harry, Ron and Hermione went to the trunks they'd been pointed towards while Percy looked at the one that'd been labeled his, a look of confusion on his face.

Molly Weasley seemed to expect that reaction and gave him a kind, understanding smile.

"These are your school supplies, dear." She explained. "Come here, I'll show you what I got for you."

Percy nodded as she opened the antique looking chest, revealing a surprising assortment of items inside.

She reached in and pulled out a small pile of folded clothes, holding them out for Percy. He took it, setting it down on the coffee table and grabbing garment on the top. He held it up, letting it unfold in front of him, revealing simple black robe.

"There are three of those," Mrs. Weasley said as she reached into his trunk for something else. "They are your school robes, the uniform for classes."

Percy eyed the robe for a minute but wasn't all that surprised. He'd seen tons of wizards in robes in the past twenty four hours. He was happy to see they were rather plain, especially compared to some of the robes he saw people sporting for the World Cup.

When he turned back to Mrs. Weasley, his eyes widened when he saw what she had in her hand.

It was a pointed black hat. The kind he'd seen on little girls dressed as witches trick or treating on Halloween.

"You can't be serious..." He said shaking his head.

Mrs. Weasley got a confused look for a moment, then looked down at the hat.

"What is it, dear?"

"Little kids wear those for Halloween." Percy couldn't help but sound a little whiny.

"Don't worry, mate," Ron cut in. "It's part of the uniform but I haven't worn mine since my first day on my first year. No one wears those things around school."

Percy felt a bit of relief hearing that. There was no way he was going to walk around in a big pointy black hat no matter who asked him to.

Before he could reply to Ron, Mrs. Weasley pulled out two stacks of books, which should not have been able to fit inside the chest. Each stack had seven or eight books, all as thick as the textbooks from Goode High School.

"Blimey," Ron said surprised. "Why have you got so many? That's got to be twice as many as I've got for fourth year."

"Dumbledore's list was specific," Mrs. Weasley answered. "I'm sure you'll find out when you get there. That man always has a reason for anything he does."

Percy was eyeing the stacks of books apprehensively. He hadn't given it much thought but seeing his texts made him worry about what they expected from him. Reading had always been an especially hard task for him with his ADHD and dyslexia.

Mrs. Weasley set them down on the floor and reached back inside the chest. This time, she pulled out more clothes, though this one appeared to be just one garment.

"What's that?" Harry asked curiously.

"Dress robes," Mrs. Weasley smiled. "You and Ron have some as well. They were on your lists of required items."

Ron and Harry immediately started to rummage through their own chests until they pulled out robes similar to the ones Mrs. Weasley held. Harry examined his robes which were very similar to Percy's. Ron, on the other hand, pulled out something quite different. His robes were far more attention grabbing than the other three's. His were much older looking, full of frills and frayed around the neck. Ron had a look of utter horror as he examined the robes.

"What the bloody hell are these?!" He exclaimed.

"Your dress robes," his mother answered simply.

Ron looked from his robes to Harry's and Percy's.

"But... But..." he shook his head in disbelief. "They're hideous!"

Harry looked down at his own robe and then over to Ron's, "No, they're not that bad."

Ron' face turned red, "Yours don't!" He exclaimed looking at his mother pleadingly, "Why don't they look like theirs?"

Mrs. Weasley's face flushed a little then gave her son a stern look, "Well, I had to get yours second hand and their weren't a lot of options."

Ron opened his mouth but the look his mother gave him made him remain quiet, settling for a look of silent misery as he continued to eye his robes.

Percy watched Mrs. Weasley frown briefly, as her expression went from sympathetic to sad to embarrassed before turning to stoic at her son's reaction. The look reminded him of one his mother often had while married to Gabe and she would give Percy school clothes and supplies that were anything but new.

"Dude, I kind of like them." Percy said looking at the robes.

Ron gave him a look of exasperation, "Easy for you to say! You've got proper looking ones!"

Percy pursed his lips for a second then gently took his robes from Mrs. Weasley. He tossed them at Ron and plucked the frilly ones away.

"Trade me," Percy said with a grin. "If these are dress robes, then that means there will be girls around. I want these. You can look like everyone else. I'd much rather wear these. Girls like guys who stand out. You'll figure that out when you get a little older."

Ron gave him a look that seemed to ask if he was insane.

"Dude, if you don't like them, switch with me. I think they look cool." Percy said seriously then smirked a little, "Well, I mean, all this stuff looks kind of ridiculous but apparently that's normal for witches and wizards."

For a minute, Ron seemed to be considering Percy's words. Then he looked at the robes again and shook his head.

"Fine. If you want them, they're all yours."

Percy grinned and folded the frilly robes, setting them down beside his two stacks of books. He caught Mrs. Weasley watching him but he kept the crooked smile on his face like he'd just fleeced Ron in the deal.

"Is that everything I need?" He asked, trying to look into his chest from a few feet away.

"No," Mrs. Weasley said distractedly before looking into his chest. "There's also a cauldron, telescope, scales and some phials. It also says you may bring a broomstick but I wasn't sure so I didn't get one."

Percy nodded, "Okay, sounds good. I have no idea what most of that stuff is for but I'm sure Harry, Ron and Hermione will help me get settled in."

"Mom," Ginny said from the kitchen. It's nearly three, shouldn't we be going?"

"Yes!" Mrs. Weasley announced. "Pack everything up! Arthur is sending cars from the ministry and they'll be here any minute."

They all quickly packed up their chests and carried them outside just as a trio of plain looking sedans pulled up in the dirt driveway.

 **-X-**

The experience of stepping through platform nine and three quarters at King's Cross Station was surprising for a minute, though the past few days had made Percy accustomed to that kind of strange new experience.

They managed to get their belongings onto the train, aptly named the Hogwarts Express, Percy learned, and then returned to the platform to say their goodbyes to Mrs. Weasley. Once everyone had gotten a hug from the Weasley matriarch, they all got back aboard and he, Ron, Harry and Hermione found an open compartment to sit in.

People walked up and down the corridors but thankfully, no one stopped by their compartment, sparing another round of introductions and explanations about Percy.

The ride went by pretty fast, at least to Percy. A snack cart passed by and Harry bought them all some sweet cakes to nibble on as they rode. Once they'd eaten their fill, Percy decided it was time to speak up, realizing Hermione apparently wasn't going to.

"So, uh," he said unsure where to start. "What I told you guys back at Ron's house, about what happened to me and Hermione, well, that wasn't really the whole truth."

Ron and Harry both leaned forward, their faces scrunched in confusion.

"The whole truth?" Harry asked. "What do you mean?"

Percy shrugged awkwardly, "Well, you know, just the part about nothing happening to us. We were kind of attacked, actually."

"WHAT?!" Ron exclaimed, his eyes going to Hermione who looked ready to dig herself a hole in her seat to hide in.

"What do you mean attacked?" Harry pressed, more calmly than Ron but clearly confused and concerned.

"It really wasn't a big deal. There were a few weird dudes in masks, they tried to attack us. We made it out fine, I just wasn't sure how to explain it."

"You saw the blokes who started all that ruckus?" Ron asked. "Why didn't you say anything back home?"

"I dunno," Percy said shaking his head. "Everyone was yelling and I still don't even really know what happened and I didn't want to explain it in front of everyone. I'm not really an expert on explaining this magic stuff."

"But," Harry cut in. "How did you get away? Neither of you can do magic outside of school and you don't even know how, Percy!"

Both Ron and Harry turned their eyes to Hermione.

"Are..." Ron chocked a little. "Are you okay?"

She rolled her eyes at his sudden concern then glanced briefly at Percy, "I'm fine, Ronald. It was Percy that saved us."

Harry's eyes widened at his older cousin and Percy immediately held up his hand.

"Before you ask, I don't know. I grabbed this watch out of my vault and some weird shield thing just kind of sprang out on its own to protect us." He held out his arm and gestured to his wrist like he was suddenly worried about the rather normal looking timepiece.

"So who were they? Drunken Bulgarian fans?" Ron asked.

Percy shrugged but in his mind, he quickly accepted that as a likely culprit.

"No."

Hermione's voice sounded hollow, her words barely more than a whisper though they caught the attention of all three boys.

"No?" Ron asked, wondering how she was sure. "Then who was it?"

She swallowed with some difficulty then looked up, meeting Ron's eyes first then moving to Harry's.

"I think," she began, "at least, from everything I've read about them," she seemed hesitant to finish the sentence, "I think they were Death Eaters."

It was as if the air had been sucked from their compartment. Even Percy, who had no idea what she was talking about, could almost feel the temperature drop.

"What?" Ron hissed, his eyes darting around like he was worried someone would hear them.

"I've read a lot about the last Wizarding War and they were dressed exactly the way they are described." Hermione said quietly, glancing at Harry who's face had gone stark white. "From the golden masks to the way they disappeared when they heard the aurors had arrived. They were Death Eaters, I'm almost certain of it."

"Death what?" Percy asked, confused why everyone looked so shaken.

"Death Eaters." Hermione whispered. "Followers of You-Know-Who."

"I know who?" Percy questioned. "Who do I know?" He looked around, a little annoyed that she was telling him he supposedly knew who they were talking about when he had no idea. He caught Ron shaking his head, his eyes flitting over to Harry who hadn't said anything but seemed to have had the blood drained from his face.

Then Harry's face steeled itself, "She means Voldemort."

The name made the compartment feel even colder, except to Percy who raise his eyebrows in question.

"Voldy-wart?" Percy had honestly thought that was what he said.

Both Ron and Hermione looked taken aback but Harry's lips twitched and he let out a small chuckle at the butchering of Voldemort's name. His small laugh seemed to relax Ron and Hermione enough to allow themselves a small amused smile as well.

"Voldemort," Harry corrected him, still looking amused.

"And," Percy looked at Hermione, "why am I supposed to know that name?"

"You're not," Harry shook his head but Percy cut him off and gestured to Hermione.

"She just said you-know-who!"

Harry couldn't help but laugh again shaking his head, understanding why Percy was confused and finding it rather amusing.

"It's just what most people call him. He was a dark wizard who had a lot of followers up until about fourteen years ago." Harry explained.

"Names have power." Hermione added, expecting a sarcastic response from Percy only to see him nod his head like he accepted it without question.

"But," Percy asked. "If he hasn't had followers for like fourteen years, why do you think those dudes were some of his death munchers, er, whatever."

Both Ron and Hermione looked at Harry as if they were asking whether or not they should answer the question.

"Percy," Harry said quietly. "I think it's time I tell you my full life story. And you should get comfortable, it's going to take a while."

Harry hadn't been kidding. For the next forty minutes, he told Percy everything; from the death of his parents and the origin of his lightning shaped scar, up until his first three years of Hogwarts, Ron and Hermione chiming in to add parts he forgot to mention, until Percy had heard everything up to the end of their third year and the escape of his godfather, Sirius.

"Well," Percy said shaking his head once he'd heard everything. "Shit."

Before Harry could ask what he meant, Percy continued.

"When Dumbledore put you and the Dursleys into that little sleep, I might have left out some of the things he told me."

Harry looked torn between offended and intrigued, "What did Professor Dumbledore say?"

"Well, I told him I wasn't really interested in being a wizard and all that nonsense but he said you had a tough road ahead and that you would need me to get through it all. To be honest, I was ready to catch the next flight back to New York until he said you were in danger." Percy explained a little sheepishly for not telling Harry everything from the start.

But Harry wasn't upset that he'd held that back from him. He actually looked a little embarrassed and then smiled after hearing Percy had only agreed to come to Hogwarts because he might need him.

Percy was about to open his mouth to tell them his story, to tell Harry, Ron and Hermione the truth about him and the fact he was a demigod when he heard the screech of the train's brakes being applied.

"We're here." Ron said glancing out the window at Hogsmeade Station.

Percy closed his mouth, knowing he didn't have time to tell his story as he heard people exiting their compartments and starting to grab their luggage.

 _Later,_ he thought to himself.

"Well," Harry said sounding a little excited. "Are you ready to see Hogwarts, Percy?"

Percy smiled as he nodded but in the back of his mind, he wasn't sure if he really was.

 **A.N: Finally got to Hogwarts. Excited to start the next part of the story. Stay tuned, more to come.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Ch. 10**

Percy hadn't really been prepared for his arrival at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

 _Though to be fair, he doubted anyone would be prepared for what he was walking into._

As he laid eyes on the enormous castle from their carriage, he couldn't help but blink his eyes in disbelief a few times. The place looked like it came right out of a children's picture book. He half expected to see a draw bridge and moat with knights on horseback galloping about the grounds.

"Pretty impressive, right?" Ron nudged him in the ribs, forcing him to look away.

"That's an understatement." He shook his head. The sight of Hogwarts Castle had almost been enough to make him forget how silly he felt wearing his long dark robes.

 _Almost._

Both Harry and Hermione smiled as they watched his eyes return to their school as they slowly rode on, the late summer air was crisp in the waning hours of daylight.

"What do you think they'll do with Percy?" Ron asked as they drew closer to grounds. "I mean, he's a little old for a first year, are they gonna make him wait with all the other first years to be assigned by the Sorting Hat?"

"Sorting hat?" Percy cocked an eyebrow.

"Just stick with us," Harry offered. "Maybe Dumbledore will just let you join Gryffindor with us."

"What the hell is a Gryffindor?" Percy had to ask after hearing that word several times and his curiosity growing.

"All students are sorted into houses." Hermione answered before anyone else could. "There are four houses for the four founders of Hogwarts; Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw and Salazar Slytherin. Each student is assigned to one house, depending on which of the founders' qualities you most exemplify."

Percy opened his mouth to ask more but then stopped himself when he saw Hermione's face. He recognized that look; he'd seen it on Annabeth more times than he could count and knew it meant that he'd be getting more explanation than he had any desire to hear.

Thankfully their carriage came to a stop next to all the others. As everyone stepped out, Percy finally got an up close look at the castle. If anything, it was even bigger than it had looked from a distance.

Students began shuffling in towards the entrance, leaving their trunks and luggage in the carriages. Percy walked between his three friends and kept quiet despite the numerous conversations going on around him. For the first time in a while, he felt a wave of nervousness run through him. Up until that moment, he hadn't really thought about what he was doing.

Suddenly, everything was becoming very real for him and his mind was flooded with second thoughts about all this magic stuff.

But here he was, just over a month removed from a full-fledged war against an army of monsters and Titans, walking into a whole new world that would undoubtedly change his life just as much as going to Camp Half-Blood had. The only difference this time was that he knew what he was walking into and inconceivably, was doing it willingly.

The next thirty minutes were a bit of a blur but he soon found himself in an enormous room that was lined with four very long tables with a fifth, shorter table, running perpendicular at the front of the hall.

Everyone seemed to have particular tables they belonged to and they quickly filled in and took their seats. He ended up sitting between Harry and Ron with Hermione and Ginny seated directly across from them. Fred and George were a little ways down and Percy could hear them making a trio of younger students laugh at something they said.

As Percy started to feel awkward again, the front table began to fill in. An assortment of people, or, at least what seemed like mostly people, began to take seats. One of them looked a bit like a goblin, minus the gnarled facial features. He couldn't have been much more than three feet tall but other than the miniature stature, he appeared human.

Percy's attention was quickly torn from the minuscule man to a much larger but also familiar figure. Hagrid lumbered into a seat near the center. He noticed Percy looking at him and gave him a thumb up, forcing a small smile onto the son of Poseidon's face.

Dumbledore appeared next, walking across the front of the table and up to a podium that was set up sext to a small pedestal centered at the front of the large hall. He approached it and turned to face the four large tables, his appearance silencing the hum of chatter that had filled the room.

"Welcome! Welcome! To another year at Hogwarts!" Dumbledore's voice boomed through the vast room.

"Now, before we get started, a few announcements!" He continued. "For all new students, please know that magic is prohibited in the halls!" Dumbledore went on, listing what seemed to be routine yearly proclamations for the new students and reminders for those returning.

"And before we begin the sorting ceremony, I'd like to announce that we have only one faculty change for the coming year. Please join me in welcoming Professor Alastor Moody to Hogwarts. Professor Moody will be filling the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher." Dumbledore began to clap and the entire room quickly joined him.

Percy's eyes widened when he saw the man at the end of the table stand up. His face looked like it was roughly carved from wood, covered with scars and topped with a mat of messy grey hair. It was hard to be sure but it looked like he had a prosthetic or fake leg by the way he seemed to hobble to one side. But the most startling thing were his eyes. One of them was normal looking while the other, clearly not his real eye, was oversized and moved independently of the other. It seemed to be scanning the entire room, pausing just briefly on their table before moving on.

"Professor Moody brings years of expertise from his years of work as an auror for the Ministry of Magic and will be an invaluable addition to our staff." Dumbledore added as Professor Moody sat back down and the clapping died out.

"Now, before our feast, let us welcome our new students to Hogwarts with the annual Sorting Ceremony! Professor McGonagall, if you would please."

An older woman in black robes and a pointed black hat rose from her seat and approached the front of the room. She carried with her what looked like a wrinkled and weathered black hat. She set it on a stool in front of the podium and then seemed to be waiting for something.

Percy almost jumped when he saw the hat move on the stool. It looked like it was jolted with electricity before very noticeable creases formed into the distinctive shapes of what appeared to be eyes and a mouth.

Then Percy gave up being surprised as the hat, in a deep and very audible voice, began to speak.

 _'Oh you may not think I'm pretty,_

 _But don't judge on what you see,_

 _I'll eat myself if you can find_

 _A smarter hat than me.'_

"Is that hat singing?" Percy asked with a tone that seemed to be a combination of disbelief and resignation, like he thought even asking for an explanation was pointless.

Harry, Ron and Hermione tried to hide their amusement and Harry patted Percy comfortingly on the back.

"Yeah," he said sheepishly. "That's the sorting hat... It's, uh," he struggled to find the words before shrugging, "well, you'll see."

Once the song was finished, Professor McGonagall stepped up beside the sorting hat and produced a long piece of odd looking paper that looked like one of those antique scrolls.

"First years, please come forward!" She said firmly. Out of the back of the room, a group of twenty or so young children, maybe ten years old, marched nervously through the hall behind a scraggly looking old man.

"Thank you, Mr. Filch," the professor said curtly before looking at the students and giving them a kind smile before looking down at her scroll. "Adam Applewood!" She called out, "Come forward, please."

A small blonde haired boy shuffled forward tentatively. Once he reached her, Professor McGonagall scooped up the sorting hat and gestured for the boy to sit down, which he did shakily.

She placed the hat on the boy's head and Percy could see him flinch as the hat shuffled around on his head.

 _"Hmmmmm... Hmmmmm_." The hat murmured. _"Oh, let's see, there it is, this one's a breeze... RAVENCLAW!"_

A roar of applause broke out from the table behind Percy as the boy scurried off the stool and towards the table where almost everyone was clapping and welcoming him, making room for the kid to sit between two older boys.

Once the cheering stopped, Professor McGonagall cleared her throat, "Bethany Abbott!"

A small raven haired girl came forward and took her turn on the stool. She was sent to the Hufflepuff table, who gave her an equally enthusiastic welcome to the one the first boy got.

This continued on for several minutes as one by one, the group of first years were called up and given their house by the sorting hat. The final boy, a short, blue eyed boy name Timothy Yeaton was sent to the Gryffindor table, receiving a whooping welcome from the table, Percy included, though he was really just going along with what the others at the table did.

Professor McGonagall reached for the sorting hat when Dumbledore rose from his chair.

"Excuse me, Minerva," he said with an apologetic smile. "But we have one more new student who will need to be assigned a house.

The old headmaster turned back to the students and smiled softly.

"Students!" His voice boomed again. "This year, among many other exciting things which you will soon learn about, Hogwarts has its first transfer student in more than a century. Joining us all the way from the United States, let's all welcome Perseus Jackson to Hogwarts!"

Percy hesitantly stood up after a coaxing elbow from Harry as the students clapped politely for him. He gave an awkward wave and heard several whispering conversations being had around the hall.

"Come, Perseus," Dumbledore waved him forward.

Percy could feel the staring eyes of the entire room as he made his way to Dumbledore.

"Now, have a seat." Dumbledore smiled. "Let's get you a house before we enjoy a nice feast."

Percy obliged and sat down on the small stool. Professor McGonagall placed the Sorting Hat on his head and he had to ignore the urge to jump up when he felt it shift around on his head.

 _"My, My..."_ It hummed. _"Very interesting, very interesting indeed! Yes, such loyalty... You could do great things in Hufflepuff! But there's more... Yes, oh yes, that's it. I see it now."_

Percy unknowingly sucked in a deep breath, surprisingly nervous about his placement. The Sorting Hat paused for a long moment and Percy opened his mouth only to be cut off.

 _"Gryffindor!"_

The Gryffindor table erupted into cheers, none louder than Harry who almost jumped from his seat. Professor McGonagall took the Sorting Hat off his head and gave him a very pleased smile.

Percy returned to the Gryffindor table, getting a handful of pats on the back and welcomes as he made his way to his seat.

"This is brilliant!" Harry said excitedly as he sat back down. "I knew you'd end up as a Gryffindor."

Percy just smiled, still not quite sure what being a Gryffindor meant. But he didn't have much of a chance to consider it before Dumbledore spoke again.

"And now," he boomed, "let us eat!" He waved his hand and suddenly the tables were filled with food. Huge dishes of roast beef, roast chicken, stews, puddings and pies littered the tables and the students quickly began to dig in. Percy, realizing how hungry he was, followed suit and filled his plate with an assortment of dinner foods.

Dinner passed in a blur. Percy managed to learn a bit more about school and what life would be like there. Once they'd eaten their fill, he, Harry, Ron and Hermione shuffled towards the back of the room to show Percy the Gryffindor common room and his dorm, when a shrill voice stopped them in their tracks.

"Mr. Jackson," they all turned to see Professor McGonagall standing behind them. "Professor Dumbledore had requested a word with you. He's in his office."

"Okay," Percy nodded, trying not to show his apprehension.

"I'll take him," Harry offered.

"No, Mr. Potter," she replied firmly. "You have unpacking to do."

Harry was noticeably let down but didn't try to protest. He turned to Percy, "We'll see you in the common room when you get back. Come on guys."

"Actually," Professor McGonagall cut in, "Madam Vector is waiting for you in her office, Miss Granger."

"Right," Hermione's eyes widened as she remembered asking to speak to the Arithmancy teacher during dinner. She waved a quick goodbye and scurried towards the exit.

"Come now, Mr. Jackson." McGonagall said as she began walking in the direction Hermione had run off in. Percy shrugged to Harry and Ron then followed after her.

She led him through a long corridor filled with stone statues of gargoyles then up a long flight of circular stairs until stopping in front of another large stone gargoyle. Percy gave her a confused look and a hint of an amused smile crossed her lips.

"Sherbet Lemon." She announced loudly.

Percy was about to say, _what_ , when the gargoyle suddenly began to turn, revealing a set of circular stairs leading up to what he guessed was the headmaster's office.

Percy looked at Professor McGonagall, waiting for her to go in but she shook her head.

"I trust you can manage to not get lost the rest of the way. The headmaster is waiting."

"Oh, okay. Thank you, Professor."

"You're welcome, Mr. Jackson. And welcome to Hogwarts, I'm looking forward to having you with us in Gryffindor."

Percy smiled, remembering Hermione tell him that Professor McGonagall was the head of the Gryffindor house.

She gestured towards the stairs before turning and walking back down the way they'd came. Percy hesitated for a second, the memory of his first encounter with Dumbledore replaying in his mind, before shaking it off and climbing the stairs.

When he reached the top of the steps, he stepped through an large open oak door and ooked around in awe of the large and beautiful circular room. It was filled with a number of curious silver instruments on spindle-legged tables. The walls were filled with large portraits of older men and women, all of whom looked to be sleeping inside their frames.

 _Literally._

He could see their bodies move as they breathed, a few even eliciting soft snores as they snoozed.

"All the previous headmasters and headmistresses," Dumbledore said with an amused look at Percy's awe. He sat in a big black leather chair behind an enormous claw-footed desk. Behind him, in a huge cage with an open gate, an enormous, brightly colored bird stared down at Percy with dark beady eyes.

Dumbledore noticed Percy's eyes looking behind him and glanced back at the bird.

"That would be Fawkes," he said. "He is a Phoenix. They are remarkable creatures, very rare."

"You wanted to see me?" Percy asked, turning his attention back to the headmaster.

"Yes, of course," Dumbledore smiled and gestured to a chair next to Percy, "I hope you've enjoyed your first night. I'm sure this has been a lot to take in so quickly."

"Yeah," Percy said sitting down, "it's definitely been an interesting few days but it's going okay."

"Good, good." Dumbledore murmured, "I must apologize for pulling you away before you could get better settled but I thought it best we talked first."

Percy waited, wondering what he needed to be told before even unpacking his stuff.

"Have you told Harry or anyone about yourself?" He asked, his meaning quite obvious.

"No," he shook his head. "I mean, not yet. It's not really something you can just announce between dinner and desert."

Dumbledore chuckled at his response before leaning forward and resting his chin on his laced fingers over his desk, his expression turning serious.

"That's good; I think it may be best to keep that to yourself, at least for now."

"Okay," Percy said slowly, "but why?"

Dumbledore leaned back and looked like he was searching for the right way to phrase his reasoning.

"You are very unique, Percy; a child of two worlds, both powerful worlds but also very different. I have never heard of a single other wizard who had the divine blood that runs through your veins. If word were to get out about your unique heritage, I fear it could attract unwanted attention."

"Unwanted attention?" Percy asked, "What kind of attention? You told me Harry would need me but you never said why. What kind of danger is he in and why would it be dangerous for me to tell him, of all people, about me?"

Dumbledore pursed his lips, "That is not as simple a question as it sounds. I wish I had a definitive answer but it's not that easy."

Percy looked disbelievingly at the old wizard. He may not have been the sharpest crayon in the pack but he did know when someone wasn't telling him the truth. Dumbledore saw his doubt and frowned.

"I am not lying to you. There are forces, dark forces that are building their strength even as we speak. Soon, once they are ready, they will return and when they do, Harry will be in incredible danger."

Percy stared at the elder man, searching for a hint of deceit only to find none. He wanted to ask what these dark forces were but could see that the old man either wouldn't or couldn't answer that question. Part of him wanted to demand more answers but something told him Dumbledore was telling him everything he could.

"Alright," he finally said. "So, I'll keep my little secret to myself. But you said Harry would need me but I don't know the first thing about all this magic stuff. I still don't see how I'll be able to help him."

Dumbledore looked like a weight had lifted off his shoulders and smiled at Percy's acceptance.

"No, you don't know about magic, do you? And that is the main reason I asked to speak to you. You have a lot of catching up to do but I think with the right assistance, we can help speed shorten your learning curve."

"Assistance? Do you mean studying? Because that's not going to go well. My dyslexia and ADHD make those pretty much impossible for me."

"Ah," Dumbledore nodded like he expected that, "that's why I've set up a more hands on approach to your teaching."

"Hands on?" Percy raised an eyebrow.

Dumbledore flicked his hand towards the doors to his office. They opened just as Professor McGonagall led a familiar face inside.

"Ah, Miss Granger," Dumbledore smiled, "please, come in."

Hermione looked at Dumbledore, then noticed Percy with surprise, "What..."

"I believe Professor McGonagall asked if you'd be interested in earning some extra credit this semester?" The headmaster asked knowingly.

"Oh, um, well, yes professor..."

"Fantastic!" He clapped his hands together. "I believe you already know our newest student, Perseus; well he is a bit behind for someone his age. I was hoping you'd be willing to help him catch up on some of the curriculum he missed the past few years."

Hermione's eyes widened and she looked at Percy, then back to Dumbledore, before opening her mouth only to find her voice abandoned her.

Percy's eyes flicked back and forth between Dumbledore, Hermione and McGonagall, feeling a little embarrassed that a girl a year or two younger than him was being asked to tutor him, even if it was in a subject that he had no idea existed a week ago.

"Of course, Professor Dumbledore," Hermione finally managed to say.

"Splendid," Dumbledore beamed, "I've had both of your schedules arranged so that you both have time to work on introducing young Perseus to magic."

"Uh... Okay, Professor." Hermione nodded, still looking unsure of what to say to the surprising task assigned to her.

"Well," Professor McGonagall cut in, "so it's settled. I will fill you both in on the details before you begin your classes tomorrow. Now, Miss Granger, why don't you escort Perseus to Gryffindor tower so you can both get settled in before curfew."

"Yes Ma'am," Hermione nodded and turned towards the door. Percy glanced at Dumbledore, but he had turned his attention to Professor McGonagall, before following Hermione out of the office.

"So," Percy said awkwardly as he followed her down the steps of the tower, "I'm sorry you got stuck doing this. I'm sure you weren't expecting to be stuck teaching me how all this magic stuff works."

"No," she said quickly as they reached the bottom of the steps, "it's fine. I mean, yes... I wasn't expecting it but it's okay."

"Still," he frowned. "I'm sorry you got stuck with me."

She turned her head to hide the tinge of pink that filled her cheeks, "Really, it's fine. Let's just get back to Gryffindor Tower, I'm sure Harry's been bouncing off the walls waiting for you to get back."

"Yeah," Percy sighed and followed as she started to walk again, his mind coming to sobering realization that this place had somehow suddenly become his new home.

 **A.N: Shaking some of the rust off... Will try to update as often as a I can.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Ch. 11**

Percy spent his first day at Hogwarts shadowing his cousin Harry, attending each of Harry's morning classes and observing, as he was told by Professor McGonagall to do, to get familiar with the daily routine of Hogwarts.

He and Harry parted after lunch and he headed for the Gryffindor common room to meet Hermione, as he had been told to do. She led him to the far side of the castle, to an empty classroom that Dumbledore had given them to use.

When they stepped in, the classroom was empty, save for a medium sized wooden table with a pair of simple metal chairs on each side. On the table were an assortment of books, papers and what Percy thought were feathers until realizing that they were actually quills, used for writing.

"So," he had to ask, "just wondering, but is there a reason we don't use normal pens? I mean, it's cool and all but using a quill seems like the slowest way possible to write something down."

Hermione stopped organizing the space in front of her, "What?"

"The quills," he pointed to one, "it seems like a lot of unnecessary work dipping a feather in ink over and over to write stuff down. I mean, you guys do have ballpoint pens in England, don't you?"

She rolled her eyes, "Of course we have normal pens in England. They just aren't used by the wizarding world."

Percy gave her an expectant look, clearly not satisfied by her simple answer.

"Yeah, I can see that... Why though?"

She sighed, "It's a long story but basically, since the wizarding world went into hiding, muggle technology has been ignored save for the necessities. That, and quills and ink are made by hand which allows them to be enchanted with magic when desired."

She could tell he still wasn't satisfied, "Do you want me to tell you the history of the magical world or do you want to start learning how to use it? McGonagall said to focus our sessions on magic and how to use it."

Percy put up his hands in surrender, "You got it boss, I'll shut up now."

She shook her head, "Sorry; that was rude. It's just I've never tried to teach magic to someone, not like this anyway. I'm not sure where to start."

"It's cool," he smiled, "it was a pretty random question. So," he reached into his robe and pulled out his wand, holding it a little tentatively, "teach away, Professor Hermione."

His playful title didn'tmake her relax any but she pulled out her own wand and stood up, "Well, I guess we'll just start with the basics. The first spell I learned was the levitation spell, so that's where we'll begin."

Percy nodded, a little rush of excitement running through him at the thought of doing magic, even if he'd been telling himself for days that he wanted no part of this new crazy world.

"The incantation is simple, the trick is being confident is your words when you speak them." She instructed, then pointed her wand at the table, " _Wingardium Leviosa,_ " she flicked her wand as she spoke and the quill in front of Percy suddenly floated off the table, swaying softly in the air in sync with the movements of her wand.

She raised her wand, lifting the quill higher into the air before lowering it quickly and sending it back down to the table with another twitch of her hand.

"Now you," she nodded to him.

Percy pointed his wand at the quill then hesitated. Before he could ask, Hermione repeated the spell, " _Win-gard-ium Lev-i-os-a._ "

"Right, _Wingardium Levioa_ ," he flicked his wanted and frowned.

" _Levio-SA_ ," she annunciated again.

Percy narrowed his eyes in concentration as focused on the quill, repeating the words in his head.

" _Wingadium Leviosa!_ " He waved his wand and his eyes went wide as the quill floated a few inches off the table before dropping back down.

"Don't lose focus." She chided, "It will get easier once you get the hang of it. To start though, keep all your attention on the spell. Think of your mind as the one controlling the quill, the wand is simply an instrument to channel that power."

Percy's eyes narrowed again, " _Wingardium Leviosa!_ " He waved his wand and the quill floated into the air again, this time quicker and higher, continuing to rise in tandem with his wand.

"Good, very good!" Hermione said impressed as he waved his wand back and forth, the quill mirroring his actions. A small smile spread across his face as he magically levitated the feather around the room. After a couple minutes to excited manipulation of the floating quill he guided it back to the table and exhaled, surprised how tired he felt.

"That was excellent." Hermione complimented, "now, let's try something a little heavier than a feather."

"Right," Percy sighed before focusing on the thick book laying in the middle of the table.

" _Wingardium Leviosa_!" He said and raised his wand. The front of the book lifted an inch or two before dropping back down with a loud thump.

"Don't think about that fact that the book is heavier," Hermione instructed, "the movement of your wand shouldn't change whether its a blade of grass or a trolley. You're not physically lifting anything, you're using magic and magic doesn't care if it's heavy or not."

Percy frowned and repeated the spell, managing to levitate the book about a foot off the table before losing focus again. He glanced over at Hermione who looked at him expectantly, knowing she didn't need to say what she wanted.

He sighed as he realized she was going to drill these lessons into him until he had mastered them to her satisfaction. The thought of doing this everyday for an unknown amount out time made him rethink the initial excitement he felt about using magic.

He shook those thoughts away and raised his wand, knowing the only way to learn anything was going to be through practice... _long, boring, painfully repetitive practice._

 **Line Break**

Percy's first week at Hogwarts came and went in what felt like the blink of an eye.

He was given a permanent schedule on his second day, one which had him join Harry and the rest of the fourth years in their core seven classes. Thankfully, he wasn't expected to do much other than observe and try to learn as much as he could.

Then, when the others went to their electives in the afternoon, he and Hermione would continue his lessons on using magic. Learning spells felt like an agonizingly slow process, despite Hermione seeming genuinely surprised by his progress in the first week.

He couldn't deny that the action of casting spells was beginning to feel more natural but he felt discouraged that he'd only mastered a few after spending a full week working on them.

Part of the trouble was actually remembering the incantations. He had down a few of the basic ones, such as levitation, summoning objects to him and how to knock something out of someone's hand, which Hermione said was essential for self defense.

Hermione had been making a list of the spells they'd gone over, writing them down in big neat letters, which she thought might help with his dyslexia. He had to tell her about his difficulty with reading and writing after she asked him to write the spells down himself. He was grateful she had acted like it was completely normal and offering to make the list for him.

 _He'd has plenty of teachers who made him feel like he was dumb for having difficulty with his learning disabilities._

He clutched the list of spells in his hand as he walked to the through the fifth floor corridor. Everyone else was in the Great Hall having dinner at the moment but he'd said he was going to the bathroom, which was about the only way to go anywhere without Harry trying to tag along.

Not that he minded hanging out with Harry. Actually, he enjoyed it. He spent most of the evenings with Harry, Ron and Hermione, which he liked. He'd met plenty of people but still, being so new, he preferred hanging out with his cousin and the two other people he knew best in the castle.

But not for this. No, he needed some privacy and that was why he was walking alone through the empty corridor until he reached the large wooden door to the prefect's bathroom. Fred and George had been the one's who told him about the bathroom, explaining it was usually empty if you wanted some privacy to handle your _business._

Percy pushed open the door, shutting it behind him. Then he turned to the door and opened up the paper with the list of spells Hermione had made him. He remembered the spell but wanted to be sure he had it right, after some interesting results from misspoken spells during his lessons earlier in the day.

He pulled out his wand and focused, _"Colloportus_ ," he whispered as a small burst of light shot from his wand and hit the door, covering it in an ethereal light before vanishing. He tried to open the door, only for it to not even budge, sealed tight.

Satisfied he'd at least have warning if someone tried to come in, he went to the large bath in the center of the room and turned on the hot water, watching it fill the large tub and produce a layer of steam right above it.

Percy waved his hand and a thin layer of water sprayed out of the tub, misting across the room. He pointed his wand at it and glanced down at his paper again before speaking, " _Lumos Solem_!"

A bright, narrow beam of light shot from his wand through the mist, creating a small rainbow in right above him. He fished into his pocket and pulled out an old bronze coin and threw it into the rainbow.

"Iris, please show me Sally Jackson, in New York City." He said to the empty room.

There was a long pause before the rainbow shimmered and an image appeared. He saw his mother, standing at the sink of her apartment, humming to herself as she dried off a plate.

"Mom!" He called, making her almost jump out of her skin. She spun around and her shock immediately turned to happiness as she smiled brightly at him.

"Percy! I was getting worried. I thought you were going to call me once you got settled?"

Sally's smile faltered when Percy only stared back at her, his expression looking oddly worried.

"What? What's wrong, hunny?" She asked worriedly.

"What?" He asked shaking his head. "Nothing...Why would you think something was wrong?"

Sally looked confused, "You look..."

"Mom," he sighed knowing it was best to just get it over with. "What do you know about your relatives in England?"

Sally's face became more concerned, "What... I mean, I haven't seen them in years but Petunia seemed excited by the idea of you coming for the semester... Why? What happened?"

Percy took a step back, giving his mother a view of his outfit, which were the standard black robes he'd wore all week.

"What are you wearing? Where are you? Where's Petunia..."

"This," Percy pointed to his robes. "It's the school uniform here."

Sally tilted her head, as if trying to get a better look at him through the misty image.

"Really?" She asked, "That seems..."

"It's the uniform at my new school for witches and wizards." Percy said with a grimace, knowing this was not going to be fun.

Sally just stared at him, waiting for the punchline.

"What are you talking about Percy?"

Percy lifted his wand, which was difficult since he was using it to create the rainbow. When Sally saw it and the bright light it was producing, her face drained of color. She opened her mouth but was too stunned to form words.

"Yeah," Percy chuckled, "I think I had the same face when I found out too."

His mother started to shake her head and Percy's amused smile vanished.

"Mom," he said quickly, "it's okay. Everything is fine, I promise."

His mother wasn't at all convinced. It took her a minute to compose herself before demanding, "You need come home, Percy. You need to come home right now!"

"Mom," he tried to cut in.

"No!" She said with a hard edge to her voice. "No, Percy. You've been through enough. It's time for you to spend some time living a normal life... You've more than earned it!"

Despite the worried look on her face, Percy couldn't help but smile. He loved his mom, she was the only person in his life who only wanted the best for him. He also found it depressingly funny that his mother didn't even question the fact he'd just said he was at a school for wizards. Any normal mother would think he was just being a smartass. But sadly, his mother had long given up on questioning the absolutely ridiculous things that happened in his life.

 _Nope, nothing to be surprised about, just finding out he's a wizard... A pretty normal Friday in the Jackson household._

"Mom," he said softly this time, trying to calm her down, "we both know I'd never get that back home. Maybe for a while but probably sooner than later some monster or god would show up at our door and drag me right back into that world."

Sally opened her mouth to protest but then stopped, knowing in her heart that he was right. New York was right in the heart of the godly world and would never let him live his life in peace.

"We'll move," she countered but even before she said it, she knew it was a pipe dream.

Percy just smiled softly, "As weird as it sounds, I think this craziness might be the closest to normal I can get, at least for now. Besides, at least here I don't have mythological monsters hunting me down on a daily basis. Here I'm safe. And I have friends and Harry..."

"Harry?" She cut in.

"My cousin, his mom was Lily Evans." He answered, watching his mother's eyes go wide after a brief pause.

"Lily had a son?" She asked stunned.

He nodded but decided not to elaborate on the fact she was murdered shortly after Harry was born by a dark wizard who tried to kill Harry only to die but apparently not really, at least that was what Percy had gathered from hearing about Harry's first two years at Hogwarts.

 _Gods this world was almost as_ _ridiculous as the godly one._

"But you were only supposed to be gone until Christmas," Sally said sounding saddened as she realized she would once again have no idea when she would see him again.

"We get Christmas break and summer's off. But we can figure all of that out later. I'll try to explain everything later, I'll write you this weekend." Percy said, realizing he'd been talking for almost ten minutes and was pressing his luck on avoiding anyone trying to use the bathroom.

Sally seemed to be searching for a reason for him to come home to New York only to come up blank.

"I love you, mom. And leave a window open for the next week."

"A window, what?" She asked confused.

He bit back a chuckle, "Uh, you'll see. I'm sending you something with the letter. Just promise me you'll read the letter before you open the package."

"Percy," her confusion was growing at his odd requests.

"Sorry Mom, I have to go. There's plenty of weird stuff here but I don't wanna have to try to explain my way out of someone seeing me having a conversation with my mother using rainbow goddess messaging. I love you and don't worry, everything is going to be fine."

Percy waved his hand, letting the mist drop to the floor and severing the connection before she could change her mind about fighting him on this.

" _Nox,_ " he said flicking his wand and extinguishing the light. He looked at the soaked floor and waved his hand, sending the water back into the tub before walking towards the exit.

" _Alohomora_ ," he flicked his wand at the door and saw a blue light shoot from his wand, covering the door like it had when he locked it. He twisted the knob and grinned, feeling a little swell of pride as he realized he didn't even have to look at his list for the right spell.

He managed to make it back to the Great Hall without incident, oddly not seeing anyone as he walked through the corridors. When he reached the open door though, he realized why no one had been walking the corridors. Everyone was in their seats still, looking up at Professor Dumbledore who was standing at the podium in front of the faculty table.

Any hope he had of slipping back to the Gryffindor table unnoticed was shot down in seconds as Dumbledore began to speak.

"Right on time, young Percy!" He announced loudly before the eyes of the entire room turned on his frozen form standing in the doorway. He heard more than a few quiet whispers and giggles from some of the female students.

"Sorry," Percy said feeling embarrassed, his voice carrying over the mostly silent hall. "Got lost coming back from the bathroom."

Dumbledore gave him an amused smile, looking across the room at him over his half-moon spectacles. Percy walked as quickly as he could while trying to act casual until he slipped into a spot next to Ginny. He avoided the eyes of everyone around him, though he could hear Ron trying to stifle a chuckle, which he made a note to remember and repay with a hard punch to the arm later.

"Right," Dumbledore said, pulling everyone's attention back to him. "I'm sure you're all quite curious why I've asked you to wait to return your dormitories."

He paused, building up the anticipation as everyone waited for the oddly timed announcement.

"It is my painful duty to inform you that the inter-house Quidditch Cup will not take place this year."

Immediately the entire room erupted into chaos as seemingly everyone was trying to make their anger and disappointment heard over their beloved sport being cancelled.

"SILENCE!" Dumbledore boomed and all chatter ceased instantly. Dumbledore continued, "This is due to an event that will be starting in October and continuing throughout the school year, taking up much of the teacher's time and energy but I am sure you will all enjoy it immensely. I have the great pleasure in announcing that this year, after over a century, Hogwarts will be hosting the Tri-Wizard Tournament!"

You could have heard a pin drop in the room.

"You're JOKING!" Fred Weasley said loudly.

The silence was suddenly broken as nearly everyone laughed.

Dumbledore chuckled appreciatively, "No I am not joking, Mr. Weasley," he said, "Though I did hear an excellent one over the summer about a troll, a hag and a leprechaun who all go into a bar..."

Professor McGonagall cleared her throat loudly.

"Er... Maybe this is not the time... no..." said Dumbledore. "Where was I? Ah, yes, the Tri-Wizard Tournament... Well, some of you will not know what this involves, so I hope those that do will forgive me for giving a short explanation, and allow their attention to wander freely. The Triwizard Tournament was first established some seven hundred years ago, as a friendly competition between the three largest European schools of wizardry – Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang. A champion was selected to represent each school, and the three champions competed in three magical tasks. The schools took it in turns to host the tournament once every five years and it was generally agreed to be the most excellent way of establishing ties between young witches and wizards of different nationalities – until, that is, the death toll mounted so high that the tournament was discontinued."

"There have been several attempts over the centuries to reinstate the tournament," Dumbledore continued, "none of which have been very successful. However, our own Departments of International Magical Co-Operation and Magical Games and Sports have decided the time is ripe for another attempt. We have worked hard over the summer to ensure that, this time, no champion will find himself or herself in mortal danger."

"The Heads of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving at the end of next week and on Halloween we will have the Champion Selections. An impartial judge will decide which students, are most worthy to compete for the Triwizard Cup, the glory of their school and a thousand galleon personal prize money."

"Eager though I know all of you will be to bring the Triwizard Cup to Hogwarts," he said, "the heads of the participating schools, along with the Ministry of Magic, have agreed to impose an agreed restriction on contenders this year. Only students who meet the requirement – that is to say, sixteen years or older – will be allowed to put forward their names for consideration. This" – Dumbledore raised his voice slightly for several people had made noises of outrage at these words – "is a measure we feel is necessary, given that the tournament tasks will still be difficult and dangerous, whatever precautions we take, and it is highly unlikely that students below Fifth year will be able to cope with them. I will personally be ensuring that no underage student hoodwinks our impartial judge into making them Hogwarts champion." His light-blue eyes twinkled as they flickered over several younger student's mutinous faces. "I therefore beg you not to waste your time submitting yourself if you are under seventeen."

"The delegations from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be staying with us for the greater part of this year. I know that you will all extend every courtesy to our foreign guests while they are with us, and will give your whole-hearted support to the Hogwarts champion when he or she is selected. And now, it is late, and I know how weary you must all be after your first week of lessons. So off to bed! Chop! Chop!"

As soon as Dumbledore stepped from the podium, the entire room erupted into chaos again as people exclaimed both their excitement, (those sixteen and older), and displeasure, (those under sixteen), about the tournament.

Percy followed Harry, Ron and Hermione as they slipped out of the room and made their way up to Gryffindor Tower.

Once inside, they all grabbed seats in the common room, Ron already telling Harry how utterly unfair the age restriction was. Harry didn't seem nearly as upset, though he did play it up a bit to sound like he did.

Ron suddenly turned excitedly to Percy, "Bloody Hell! You're sixteen, you can enter!"

Percy leaned back in his seat, looking at him like he'd just asked if we wanted a kiss. Before he could respond, Hermione did.

"Are you mad?"

"What?" Ron sounded mildly offended, though Percy wasn't quite sure why.

"What?!" Hermione asked incredulously, "You want Percy to enter the tournament? He's barely ahead of the first years!" She quickly turned and looked apologetically at Percy.

"Sorry," she winced, "I didn't mean it like..."

"No," Percy laughed, cutting her off. "I was about to ask the same thing. Really Ron? I literally found out magic existed like ten days ago!"

Ron seemed to realize how foolish the idea was but weakly tried to justify it, "Well, still... It's the Tri-Wizard Tournament mate! You would be famous if you did manage to win."

Percy laughed, perhaps a little harder than he meant to but just shook his head, "Yeah, well, being famous is literally the last thing I want. Nah, I'm happy just being here, learning a little magic and watching someone else risk their life for fame and fortune."

Harry nodded like those were his exact thoughts on the topic. Hermione though, looked at Percy a little oddly, making him feel uncomfortable under her calculating gaze.

"Well, I'm exhausted," Harry said stretching as he stood up from his seat. "We have all weekend hear about the tournament, I'm going to bed."

Percy and Hermione both stood up and Ron grudgingly followed suit as they parted and made their ways towards the sleeping quarters. While Ron may have wished for a chance to enter some insane wizard tournament, Percy was quite pleased knowing he would be able to enjoy it from the safety of the stands.

 **A.N: New chapter... Hope you like it.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Ch. 12**

 _Six Weeks Later_

The arrival of the students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang had sent a surge of energy through the students of Hogwarts. Even Percy felt it, though it was mostly due to the dramatic and choreographed entrances both made upon their arrival.

That, and the fact that apart of the group of Durmstrang students had been a person whom was well known by all of Hogwarts and likely the magical world after the World Cup of Quidditch.

Viktor Krum, the star seeker of the Bulgarian National Team, stepped through the doors of the great hall last and Percy thought Ron was about to faint in disbelief.

Listening to Ron swoon over the famous wizard the rest of the night was almost nauseating by lights out and neither Percy, Harry or Hermione seemed disappointed at the chance to escape hearing Ron list off another Krum stat or fact.

Adding to the excitement from that night had been the revealing of the Goblet of Fire, the magical impartial judge which would be responsible for choosing the champion from each school.

"Do not do so lightly! If chosen, there's no turning back. As from this moment, the Triwizard Tournament had begun!"

Dumbledore's words hung over the school as an ominous warning. As Hermione had explained it, being chosen as a champion was like a magical contract, something that could not be undone. It gave Percy a sobering feeling of deja vu, sounding eerily similar to an oath on the River Styx, which he knew first hand was not something to be toyed with.

But he had no plans to enter his name in the Goblet of Fire and was relieved knowing Harry wouldn't be either. For once in his life, he was going to sit on the sideline and watch someone else be the center of attention risking their lives.

That, by itself, was reason to celebrate, though he obviously did not share his relief about being able to it.

He gradually became more accustomed to the everyday life of being a student at Hogwarts. Soon, it nearly started to feel like the norm, daily classes almost boring. As insane as that was, considering the past four years of his life, learning how to do magic was a little on the boring side.

And it was a little slice of Elysium to him.

No monsters showing up to kill him on a regular basis, no drama from the gods or other immortal beings; just waking up every morning and knowing exactly what he was going to be doing that day.

His ability to do magic continued to improve little by little each week as well. Spending afternoons with Hermione training was starting to pay off. She was relentless as a teacher, making him nearly master each spell and each lesson before she'd move on to the next. But to his surprise, he found learning magic came almost naturally to him, once his mind stopped resisting the whole premise, even subconsciously. Unlike his lessons back at Goode and all the other schools he'd bounced around during his childhood, his ADHD didn't make learning magic and spells a nearly impossible task. It was as if magic were immune to his usual struggles with learning and comprehension. He had a growing list of spells memorized and could use them with increasing effectiveness.

Starting two weeks earlier, Hermione had added a new aspect to their lessons.

Dueling.

Each day, for the last thirty to forty minutes of their lessons, she would have them duel, forcing Percy to use magic in more real life situations.

When she'd first suggested it, Percy had thought this would be something he excelled at. I mean, he had been dueling since he was twelve, just not using magic.

Thirty seconds into their first duel, his confidence was utterly destroyed with a simple flick of Hermione's wand. She blasted him straight across the room, the feeling of her spell hitting him in the chest reminding him of getting slammed in the chest with a Laistrygonian club.

When he finally managed to get back to his feet, he barely raised his wand before he felt the familiar sensation of his entire body going rigid before he collapsed onto the ground with a loud crash. After a moment of silently lauding over his incapacitated body, Hermione reversed the spell and slowed down, giving commands and shouting instructions before lobbing spells at him; just as she did now.

"Block!" Hermione shouted before pointing her wand at him, " _Stupefy_!"

" _Protego_ ," Percy muttered, holding his wand in front of him defensively. The burst of red light stopped mere inches from his wand and was deflected aside before vanishing.

"Again!" Hermione lobbed another stunning spell at him. Percy successfully blocked the spell but wasn't ready when the next came with no warning, hitting him in the chest and knocking him off his feet.

"Argh!" He growled in frustration and jumped back up. Hermione raised her wand again but Percy beat her to it.

" _Expelliarmus!_ "

Hermione jumped back and barely blocked the spell, casting the shield charm without speaking. She arched an eyebrow in surprise then narrowed her eyes and fired another jinx only for Percy to jump aside.

 _"Stupefy!_ " Percy shouted only for his spell to be swatted aside effortlessly once again.

"That's good," she said with a tone of disapproval, "but we're working on blocking spells, stop losing focus!"

"This is defense," he grumbled. "If you're defending yourself, you can't keep blasting me off my feet."

"I'm sorry," she said with a little smirk, "am I hurting you?"

Percy glared at her but he didn't answer. The honest answer was, a little bit. His ass felt like it was a giant bruise, the result of landing on it at least a dozen times over the last forty minutes.

"Suddenly she's a comedian," he scowled before an idea popped into his head and his expression changed to one of focus.

" _Stupefy!_ " He fired the spell at her, surprising her as she had to duck to avoid being hit. Before she could retaliate, Percy's next words surprised her enough to make her freeze for just a second.

" _Aqua Eructo!_ " Before she could react, a jet of water shot from his wand and hit her square in the chest, sending her crashing backwards, coughing and spluttering as water went up her nose and into her lungs.

Watching her choking, Percy immediately pulled his wand away, extinguishing the burst of water. Hermione slowly coughed up the unwelcome water in her lungs and then sat up, staring at him with wide eyes.

Percy had the good mind to look apologetic, though it didn't seem to have any affect on his young teacher.

"Sorry," he frowned. "I didn't... I mean..."

"What was that?" She cut him off, her tone a combination of confusion, surprise and annoyance.

"What..."

"The spell!" She snapped. "Where did you learn that spell?"

"Oh," Percy's eyes widened, "the spell book. You told me to read it. I don't know why I thought of it that spell, it was just kind of instinct, I guess."

Hermione got back to her feet, completely soaked from her head to her feet, her normally bushy brown hair was straightened though it was sticking to the sides of her face. Percy suddenly felt a nervous shiver run through his body. He wasn't sure what to expect; he'd never gotten the upper hand in one of their duels and didn't know if she was going to be angry or impressed. Her face revealed nothing, her brown eyes staring at him intensely. Despite the high likelihood of pain forthcoming, he couldn't help but smile a little at his handiwork.

She remained silent and Percy could almost see the gears turning in her mind through her calculating brown eyes. It was a look he'd seen so many times before and one that quickly wiped away his smirk and replaced it with one that was unreadable. His mind racing with a myriad of emotions; sorrow and pain but also happiness and longing.

His changed expression seemed to make her uncomfortable because her cheeks turned pink before she shook her head and broke the awkward silence.

"Well," she said trying to sound stern, "that's good, I suppose. I mean, that is good, obviously. It's surprising, I didn't think you actually listened when I suggested you study the book of spells on your own."

"Yeah," Percy cleared his throat. "Well I guess even I can surprise you, now and again."

"Hmm, yes." She murmured softly before whipping her wand out, _"Stupefy!"_

Percy had no chance. The spell hit him like a runaway freight train, lifting him right off his feet and sending him crashing backwards across the room before landing with a loud thump and letting out a grunt of pain.

"Don't expect to surprise me again," she grumbled before pointing her wand at herself, " _Tergeo!"_ The water from her robes was siphoned into the glowing tip of her wand. She slowly dragged it up and down her body until her clothes were completely dried.

"That's enough for today," she said wringing water out of her hair, "it's nearly time for dinner and the selection ceremony."

Percy labored back to his feet, trying to catch his breath from that spell knocking the wind out of him, "You're the boss. And for the record, that was a cheap shot."

She arched an eyebrow at him, the hint of a smile creeping into the corners of her mouth, "Yes, well, Professor Dumbledore wanted you to be trained for real life situations. There's no such thing as a cheap shot if someone's trying to attack you for real. Take it as a lesson learned."

Percy rolled his eyes, tucking away his wand as he walked towards the door, "Maybe a lesson in someone being a sore loser." He muttered under his breath. Hermione heard him but said nothing as she she followed him out of the room with a smirk tugging at her lips.

 **-X-**

Percy pushed his plate away from him, as if putting a few more inches between him and his food were necessary to stop himself from stuffing another bite of the delicious pumpkin pie into his mouth.

All around the Great Hall, several other male students from both Hogwarts and the visiting Durmstrang, seemed to be suffering similar regrets about the amount they'd eaten from the vast feast.

With the meal winding down, Dumbledore rose from his seat and walked to the raised podium at the front of the hall. The entire room went quiet as soon as he did. Everyone had been waiting for this.

"Well," Dumbledore boomed. "I trust you have all had your fill by now." He waved his hand and the tables instantly cleared, leaving a couple of students sitting with empty hands that had seconds before held forks with their next mouthfuls of pie. The look of amusement on his face showed Dumbledore did not miss their shocked faces.

"I know this is the moment many of you have been waiting weeks for!" Dumbledore said with excitement, "I believe the Goblet of Fire is ready to make it's selections!"

The Goblet of Fire, which had been moved, slowly floated back towards the center of the hall, in front of the faculty table before coming to a slow stop. From the side of the room, two men in robes walked towards the goblet. One Percy recognized as Ludo Bagman, the chubby guy built like a brick house. The same wizard who'd lost a wager to Percy, Fred and George at the World Cup. According to George, they'd been lucky to get their money as rumor had it that Ludo owed a lot of people money and had been dodging them as best he could since the tournament.

The other man Percy didn't recognize. He was a short, thin man with mostly grey hair, just a little of the original dark left at the top. His hair was short and very neatly parted. He had a toothbrush mustache and wore impeccably clean black robes with a shiny pair of black dress shoes that shined even in the dim light of the room. As Percy looked closer, he could also see that despite his pristine wardrobe, the man looked a little haggard. His skin looked papery and he had dark bags under his eyes, making him look like he was ill.

"Barty Crouch," Ron nodded towards him, "Head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation. That's who Percy," he paused, "my brother Percy, works for." Ron didn't sound overly fond of the man.

Harry and Percy both gave him questioning looks.

"Percy never shuts up about Mr. Crouch," he said impersonating his older brother when he said Mr. Crouch's name. "Acts like the bloke is the Minister of Magic... Sounds like a nutter if you ask me..."

Before Ron could go on any further about his older brother and Mr. Crouch, Dumbledore raised his hands to get everyone's attention. He was now flanked by the headmasters of each of the visiting school as well as Mr. Crouch and Ludo Bagman. On either side of him, Professor Karkaroff and Madame Maxime looked as tense and expectant as anyone. Ludo Bagman was beaming and winking at various students. Mr. Crouch, however, looked quite uninterested, almost bored.

"Now, when the champions' names are called, I would ask them please to come up to the front of the Hall, walk along the staff table, and go through into the next chamber," Dumbledore indicated the door behind the staff table, "where they will be receiving their first instructions."

He took out his wand and gave a great sweeping wave with it; at once, all the candles except those inside the carved pumpkins around the room were extinguished, plunging them all into a state of semi-darkness. The Goblet of Fire now shone more brightly than anything in the whole Hall, the sparkling bright, bluey-whiteness of the flames almost painful on the eyes. Everyone watched and waited.

The flames inside the Goblet suddenly turned red and sparks began to fly from it. A moment later, a tongue of flame shot into the air and a charred piece of parchment fluttered out of it making the whole room gasp.

Dumbledore caught the piece of parchment and held it at arm's length, so that he could read it by the light of the flames, which had turned back to blue white.

"The champion for Durmstrang," he read, in a strong, clear voice, "Viktor Krum!"

A storm of applause and cheering swept through the Hall. Percy saw Viktor Krum rise from the Slytherin table, and slouch up towards Dumbledore before he turned right and walked along the staff table and disappeared through the door into the next chamber.

"Bravo, Viktor!" Boomed Karkaroff, so loudly that everyone could hear him, even over all the applause. "Knew you had it in you!"

"That's no surprise," Ron commented, still man-crushing hard over the Bulgarian Seeker.

The clapping and cheering quickly died down as the fire turned fiery red again and a second piece of parchment shot out of it, propelled by the flames.

"The champion for Beauxbatons," said Dumbledore, "is Fleur Delacour!"

A girl rose gracefully to her feet, shook back her sheet of silvery blonde hair and walked up between the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables. Percy had noticed her during the arrivals of their visitors weeks ago. Well, to be fair, everyone had noticed her. She was breathtaking. But that wasn't the only thing that had caught Percy's eye. This girl had a very familiar look to her. She looked, at least partially, like a Nymph.

All Nymphs were beautiful but she might have been the most beautiful he'd seen. From what he'd heard, she was apparently part Veela. While he hadn't gotten much of an explanation as to what that meant, he knew that had to be some kind of Nymph, even if nobody knew it.

Once Fleur Delacour, too, had vanished into the side chamber, silence fell again, but this time it was a silence bristling with excitement. The Hogwarts champion was next...

The Goblet of Fire turned red once more; sparks showered out of it; the tongue of flame shot high into the air and from its tip Dumbledore pulled the third piece of parchment.

"The Hogwarts champion," he called then paused. He stared at the piece of paper, as if he was convinced he wasn't reading it right. It wasn't until Ludo Bagman cleared his throat that Dumbledore seemed to regain his wits. He looked down and his eyes immediately went to the Gryffindor table.

"Percy Jackson."

Unlike the last two announcements, this one was met by silence with the exception of a little polite clapping from the foreign students who stopped once they realized no one was else clapping.

A heavy silence hung over the room, no one seeming to be sure of what to do.

"Percy Jackson!" Dumbledore said loudly, none of the excitement from the last two selections in his voice.

Percy's face was drained off all blood as he sat unmoving in his seat. He could feel the eyes of everyone in the room on him. Harry, Ron and Hermione all stared wide-eyed at him. Hermione was the first of come to her senses and she jabbed Percy in the ribs, jolting him out of his trance. He rose to his feet but made no move to leave his spot.

"Go," Hermione hissed, grabbing his wrist and tugging him towards the staff table.

Percy turned and found Dumbledore looking completely baffled at him. He numbly walked to the front, barely hearing the growing shouts of protest from other students.

"He's only been here like a month!"

"Unfair! We want a redo!"

"I wasn't done with my pie!"

When he reached Dumbledore, he stopped and shook his head, "Wait, this is wrong. I didn't.."

"Go, Perseus." Dumbledore said sternly, his eyes flicking towards the door behind him.

"But..."

"Go!" Dumbledore hissed.

Percy wanted to argue but the shouts of protest and jeers behind him spurred his feet to move as he slowly stalked towards the door. He reached for the handle when the murmurs of discontent behind him suddenly vanished. The entire room let out a collective gasp as the Goblet turned bright red again and something small shout out of the fire, reaching several feet up before slowly stopping. A small piece of paper floated down, wisps of smoke rising from the edges.

Dumbledore caught it and held it in front of him. If possible, his face went a paler shade than Percy's had. The entire room waited with bated breath.

As if it were with his dying breath, Dumbledore read the name on the piece of parchment.

"Harry Potter."

 **A.N: I'll try to update a little faster with the next chapter but hey, life's a bitch. Let me know what you thought.**


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